I'm in Hell
by Crystalmaiden62
Summary: Well, I'm in Hell. I made a stupid dare and now I'm stuck in the anime/game that I kept criticizing and turns out, it's real and just as deadly. I gotta survive being around the classic Tsundere known as Asuna, the perfect being known as Kirito, and everything else. I swear though, I'm gonna survive and maybe change a few things along the way. Kirito x OC
1. Chapter 1: Killer Dare

Crystal: well... I've done it.

Anna: (looks to the other OCs and characters) get the tub oh holy water.

Crystal: what?!

Monkey: (picks up Crystal and shoves her in a giant tub of holy water) there, there. it's okay. you will be purified soon.

Crystal: I only wanted to make an Sword Art Online Fanfic! I'm not committing murder!

Monkey: it's basically the same thing in the eyes of the haters, though.

Anna: besides, you used to hate SAO!

Crystal: but... but the hype is dying. :(

Monkey: not exactly. though, attack on titan has taken it's place, it still stands strong on the internet.

Crystal: TT^TT I can't even introduce my new OC...

Monkey: IT MATTERS NOT.

Anna: so then, shall we begin?

Monkey: we don't have a choice, so on with the story! oh, and crystal doesn't own SAO and any flames that pop up, i'll be using for smores!

Crystal: (manages to surface from the holy water) also, the phrase Protagonist Powers is owned by Death's Door Podcast! (sinks back into the water)

Nihil:... was that a disclaimer?

Monkey: yes.

Anna: and if you don't like the story, there's a nifty little button on the top left hand corner that'll send you back.

* * *

Chapter 1: Killer Dare

"Look, I keep telling you. Sword Art Online sucks." I said to the members of the anime club. It was our usual weekly lunch meeting and our president, Danny Jackson, had us watch SAO. Since SAO came out, there's been this huge civil war in the anime club…, which only has about fourteen members so that's not saying much. On one side, it's me and a few of my friends who dislike SAO for the lousy writing, characters, and of course the Mary Sue and Gary Stu that is Asuna and Kirito. Others, like Danny though, love it for the idea of the story, the animation, and I'm not sure what else. All in all, we're pretty split.

"You can't deny that SAO isn't a good anime, heck it's downright disappointing at times. The first part I'll admit was good but at the second half, it just does a swan dive into hell. I don't play MMO games but even I know the stuff Kirito Stu does isn't even possible. Not only that, he seems to be the most desired human being since Helen of Troy. But unlike Helen who had beauty, Kirito just wins them over because he's the protagonist." I pointed out and a few of the members nodded. "Also, Asuna isn't even a good female character. You see that she's independent in episode two yet suddenly she wants a man? I don't get it, but then she turns into Princess Peach of all things in the second part. I heard better things about the light novel and if I can find it in English, I'd read it."

"Isabelle, you're taking this way too seriously." Danny said waving his hand but I rolled my eyes.

"Oh yeah, you like it because of the near rape scene, you sick pervert." I said, glaring at him and he glared back.

"I'm not a pervert." Danny growled but suddenly smirked. "Okay, why don't we have a little bet? You think SOA isn't a good anime, why don't we see how long we last? First one to die in the game loses."

"No way, the game doesn't really exist." I added, my arms crossed.

"Actually it does, I actually found it online the other day." Danny grabbed a piece of paper and quickly wrote the website before handing it to me. "Same rules apply to us like in the anime."

"Does that mean you'll die in real life if you die in the game?" Megan, a little freshmen, asked meekly.

"No way! No one would've let it go online if it was true." My friend, Helen argued.

"She's right. I'll be fine." I said smiling, and looked to Danny with a confident look. "Okay, I'll play your little game. What are your rules?"

"First one to die loses." Danny said, as I scoffed.

"Don't you mean, K.O?" My other friend, Lewis, asked with a raised eyebrow. "Don't tell me you think this will be exactly like the anime."

"It's probably not that." I said, hands on my hips and sitting on the desk. "It's a deal then, Danny. I'll sign up tonight." I don't know why, but the way Danny smirked then kind of scared me. It was the same as usually when we'd get into these fights but his eyes… they just turned dark.

"Good, see you then on the battlefield." Danny said looking to the other members. "We're gonna end early, that way those people who have classes across campus won't be late." With that, the club ended and Lewis, Helen, and our group met.

"You can't seriously be thinking about this, Isabelle. You've never even played an MMO before." Helen said, as we walked down the stairs.

"Helen's right, you can just say sorry." Lewis said as I shook my head.

"No way, Danny's been messing with me since he became club president. I'll take his place next year but this dare will put him in his place." I said, and smiled. "Besides, I doubt I'll die right away. I'm pretty decent at gaming."

"But…"

"It's fine. Besides, the anime isn't real and if I do get sucked into the game, you guys heard the dare so you can tell the police and they'll hopefully point it to Danny." I said, but my two friends didn't look convinced. "Again, don't worry. I'll see you guys on Monday, safe and sound." With that, I didn't think much about the dare. I was reminded though when Megan came up to me and asked me what class I would be in SAO. I told her I wanted to be a swordsman but I had a special idea for what my sword would be… I hope they'll let me choose what kind of sword I get to use right off the bat.

When I got home, I was greeted by my little brother; Jason. He's thirteen but he had to stay home because he caught a cold. Still, he's a good kid and a boy filled with energy. When our mom died, he was still young; about eight years old. I'm fourteen now, I'll be fifteen in a weeks time; still that means it's been five years since mom died.

"Isabelle, you okay?" Jason asked, as I entered his room. He was reading one of the Artemis Fowl books while sitting in bed.

"Nothing, just thinking." I said, smiling, sitting on his bed. "I was dared to do something really silly today."

"Really? What was it?"

"To play Sword Art Online. Turns out it's actually a game." I said, turning on my laptop.

"You sure you should do this? It could be dangerous. Your computer might get hacked. You know how dad gets about online games." Jason warned, as my laptop slowly started to work.

"Yeah but this is just to see who survives the longest. I doubt it'll take long. And once it's over, I'll just stop playing." I said, typing in the website. "Besides, it's an MMO and I doubt he'll find me right away." I clicked the download button and I looked to my brother. "Anyway, shouldn't you rest up? You still gotta recover from your cold."

"I know, I just can't sleep." I sighed, noticing the medicine on his bedside table.

"You didn't take your medicine, didn't you?"

"The pills are too big!" Jason yelled, blushing but started coughing.

"I'm going to give you cough medicine, it's the drinking kind so you shouldn't complain." I said, my arms folded.

"Okay." Jason said, looking a little better at the prospect of feeling better. Within five minutes, he took his meds and looked better.

"Now you rest. I'm gonna head to my room."

"Okay, try not to be too loud, sis." Jason said, and I smiled before leaving for my room. Making my avatar and account for SAO wasn't too hard. I decided to use a bit of my name, Belle, as my user name. As for my look, I decided to make my hair shorter, but my eyes and hair color would be the same. I was about to log on when I noticed a pop up.

_Would you like to beta test a new System for SAO?_

_Yes or No_

I stared at the question. I wasn't sure what the beta test was about but I decided to click yes. I noticed something on my screen and before I knew it, I was blinded by something. I screamed but it was too late, I fell forward into the light. The last thing I heard was my little brother coming in and then shouting my name.

I could hear the voices of people around me and when I opened my eyes, it looked like I was in some old fashion town. No one seemed to pay me any mind but when I looked at myself, I nearly screamed. My hair was now a boy cut, my clothes… they looked like the starting armor for girls for SAO, only mine was green. Worst of all, I was wearing a skirt. Not exactly good for combat. I stood up by I noticed something was weighing me down. I felt my waist and I felt I was wearing a belt and attached to it was a bulky sword. I quickly hid in an alleyway and took it out; I gasped in awe. It was a beautiful Greek bronze sword, like the one's I'd see in my history books. Oddly enough, that was the sword I wanted.

'Maybe this is a special feature of the game. I have to be in the game and wearing some weird contraption to cause me to think I'm in the game. Though, when did I put on a headset?' I thought, as I moved my hand to see the main menu. Knowing there was always a log off button for anything on the Internet, I tried to find it but… it wasn't there. I kept looking and looking but found nothing at all. I was starting to panic when I heard the sound of the church bells, a funeral or a mass? Suddenly, I was engulfed in blue flames and I just appeared in this huge plaza surrounded by people. It seemed like everyone was here, then I realized; this happened in the anime as well. So then… my internal question was answered when I saw the _Warning_ and _System Announcement_ red signs filling the plaza like a dome. Oozing out from the cracks were these red things and it then turned into a huge cloaked figure.

"Attention, players." The figure said, in a clear voice heard by all. "Welcome to my world. My name is Akihiko Kayaba. As of this moment, I am the sole person who can control this world." A few people talked to each other but I stayed quiet, I already knew this from the anime… and I'm not liking this. Only one thing went through my mind; this had better be a dream. "I'm sure you've already noticed that the logout button is missing from the main menu. But this is not a defect in the game. I repeat, this is not a defect in the game. It is a feature of Sword Art Online. You cannot log out of SAO yourselves. And no one on the outside can shut down or remove the NerveGear. Should this be attempted, the transmitter inside the NerveGear will emit a powerful microwave, destroying your brain and this ending your life." A lot of talk began at that. Some were worried, some were near panic; I was just confused. How come I can't get out of this sticking game? Unlike everyone here, I didn't even have a NerveGear. I stopped questioning myself and remembered NerveGears and any special virtual headsets weren't even made for games. Heck, those weren't even invented yet.

"As for certain Beta Testers for a _new_ feature, you aren't able to log out because you are now official in the game." I gaped up at the man before me. No way, this can't be right? I can't really be in this. It's just nuts. I pinched myself but I felt pain; that's not suppose to happen! It didn't help that people were now demanding who these new Beta Testers were. If anyone found out about me, I could be in real trouble. "Unfortunately, several players' friends and families have ignored this warning and have attempted to remove the NerveGear. As a result, two hundred and thirteen players are gone forever, from both Aincard and the real world."

"This is insane… Danny, I swear I'll kill you myself to getting me stuck here." I growled as I watched some screens appear around Akihiko. Headlines of deaths and even a shot of a girl crying in front of a house as her mom comforted her just flashed in front of us almost as if it was taunting us.

"As you can see, news organizations across the world are reporting all this, including the deaths. Thus, you can assume that the danger of the NerveGear being removed is now minimal. I hope you will relax and attempt to clear the game." He doesn't sound too emotional at the fact that people are dying because of his product. "But I want you to remember this clearly. There is no longer any method to revive someone within the game. If your HP drops to zero, your avatar will be forever lost. And simultaneously, the NerveGear will destroy your brain." To that, there was utter silence now. I don't blame them. My mind was racing with too many thoughts now because of this. Will I just digitize like everyone else, or will I actually be able to bleed in this world? No one seemed to be asking any questions and if I say anything, it'll blow my cover.

"There's only one means of escape." Akihiko added. "To complete the game." He pressed something to show a virtual map of Aincard. "You are presently on the lowest floor of Aincard, Floor 1. If you make your way through the dungeon and defeat the Floor Boss, you may advance to the next level. Defeat the final boss on Floor 100 and you will clear the game." Come to think of it, did Akihiko even think it was possible? In the anime, no one got to the 100th floor. Instead, they just beat that boss on a different level. So, was all this really just a suicide mission because if it was, then it's working perfectly. "Finally, I've added a present from me to your item storage. Please see for yourselves." I opened my item box and noticed there was something in there. The title said, mirror and I knew what it was… I let everyone take theirs out but I felt someone looking at me. I looked up and I really hoped it wasn't the large man in the robe the size of a building watching me. Aw hell, I know he was watching me! In the end, I took my mirror out and at once, people around me were starting to get engulfed in blue flames. After a while so was I but my features hadn't changed much; I just got my long blonde hair back.

"Right now, you're probably wondering, 'why'? Why would Akihiko Kayaba, developer of Sword Art Online and the NerveGear, do all this?" Understatement of the fucking millennium! "My goal has already been achieved. I created Sword Art Online for one reason, to create this world and intervene in it." So he wanted to be god I'm guessing… why do Danny and the others defend this anime again? "And now, it is complete. This ends the tutorial for official Sword Art Online launch. Good luck, players." With that, Akihiko Kayaba vanished and all hell broke loose. I quickly ran out before I could get crushed to death and ran to the end of the village.

I have to get out of this game, but I have to get stronger. I couldn't die here. I refuse to die here! If I died because of this stupid dare that wasn't meant to be serious, I'm going to come back from the dead and kill Danny for putting me through this… well, I won't kill him. I'll just throw the bastard into the game myself so he can experience what it's like to fight for your life. Heck, maybe he's in this world. If I see him here… I swear I'll give him a piece of my mind! As I ran to the next town, I attacked every monster that I could. After all, I won't go down helpless. In this world, I'll try to get stronger and some day; I'll be home. 'Dad, Jason, wait for me. You won't lose another family member this time.'

* * *

(Crystal swims out of the tub)

Crystal: I live!

Monkey: do you want me to shove you back in? ^-^

Crystal: um... no.

Monkey: good. (faces the readers) leave a review to tell us what you think and we hope you liked the chapter! and for those of you wondering who have not been long-time readers of Crystal, i am NOT one of her OC's. i am a writer on this site known as NinjaMonkeyGirl2013, soon to be 2014.

Crystal: who is also my editor for a few of my stories. and if i get any flames... we'll me making s'mores with them in the next chapter.

Monkey: hopefully they'll be good!

Crystal: ^^; anyway, join us next time in Chapter 2: I Meet the Main Cast. See you soon!


	2. Chapter 2: I Meet the Main Cast

Crystal: well, I'm back. My friend NinjaMonkeyGirl2013, soon to be 2014 is on vacation so she can't make s'mores with flames.

Anna: but you didn't get any flames.

Crystal: I know, I'm kind of relieved. I was a little scared if I would get flames.

Nihil: ^^; Anyway, shall we get going.

Crystal: first, I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed, favorite, and follow this story. It gave me the courage to keep going. Anyway, to the Disclaimer.

Disclaimer: I do not own Sword Art Online. I only own Isabelle, or Belle for short and the other OCs. Now then, please enjoy and if you do not like the story, the back button is there for a reason. Also, for those who give flames, we will be making s'mores with them in the next chapter.

* * *

Chapter 2: I Meet the Main Cast

Well, I'm running out of luck. I've been leveling up as best as I can, and I'm currently at level seventeen. Down side is, it's been a whole month now since I've been trapped in SAO and (like in the anime) no one has cleared the first floor yet. About two thousand people have already died and I haven't met a single player like me. I also realized the differences between me and the other players from the anime. For one, while they let out red digital blood… I bleed real blood. I guess it makes sense since I'm here fully, both mind and body, but it's still frightening. Also, I have to depend on my own set of fighting skills and my body has to be careful when doing harder moves; thank god I did sports before going into this whack job of a game.

Anyway, today is the day for something important. A group of players will be meeting up to discuss how we're going to beat the boss and move up to the next floor. I'm eager for this because of two reasons. One, I finally get to move forward. Two, I get to meet Kirito and Asuna. I mean, don't get me wrong, I don't like them in the anime but since I'll be here for maybe two years might as well make some friends and see if the two aren't as... Well, generic as they are in the anime. Also, I formed a plan during this month of fighting. If I stay near either Kirito or Asuna, I may survive until the end. It's not much but at least I'll be able to keep a close eye on the plot.

I went to the little performance area where the meeting was being held and I saw the cloaked figure of Asuna sitting in the back. Looking at her with the coat, I wasn't sure if she was female but her voice would've given her away. I walked over to her but she didn't look up.

"Um… can I sit here?" I asked, and she nodded. I sat next to her quietly as the meeting began.

"My name is Diabel. I like to consider my 'job' as Knight." Our leader began, which caused a few laughs from the people in the crowd. After the laughter had died down, Diabel looked serious and ready for business. "Today, our party found the boss room at the top of the tower. We need to defeat the boss, reach the second floor, and tell everyone waiting in the Town of Beginnings that it is possible to beat this game. Everyone present here shares this duty! Do you all agree?" I nodded a little, it made sense. When the announcement happened last month, a lot of people didn't want to fight. Some out right gave up, some went crazy, and some even killed themselves. In the end, it was all because people thought it was impossible to reach the 100th floor…. and it kind of is.

"All right, then let us begin our planning. First, divide into parties of six. No ordinary party has no chance against a floor boss. We'll need to form a raid group using multiple parties." I looked to Asuna, who didn't seem to flinch at this news.

"Hey, you wanna form a party with me? It looks like we've been left out." I suggest and she nodded.

"Sure." I opened my main menu and Asuna clicked the okay button to add to my party.

"Hey." I looked up to see Kirito had scooted over to us. "You guys got left out, too?"

"We weren't left out." Asuna said in a quiet voice.

"Yeah, everyone else kind of already formed their own group already." I said, looking down at the many guys forming their groups. Its times like these I really miss Helen and Lewis, we really would've made a great team.

"So you guys are solo players." Kirito said and I nodded. "Then, want to form a party with me?"

"Sure, you can lead us if you want. I'm not used to this stuff." I said, looking away. I kind of wished I gave into peer pressure and played those MMOs now. Anyway, Kirito opened his menu and a screen popped up, asking if we wanted to accept the invite and we did. I noticed that I can will my HP bar to show itself to me whenever I wanted it, and sure enough, now I can see Kirito and Asuna's heath right under mine.

"Okay, have you formed your parties?" Diabel asked, and we nodded or said something to conform it. "Well then…"

"Just a second!" I looked up and some weirdo with orange hair camp jumping down and getting onto the stage. "My name's Kibaou. I wanna say something before we take on the boss." He looked to the crowd with this angry look but I wasn't phased. "Some of you here need to apologize to the two thousand who had died so far!" At once, there was a murmur of confusion and I knew I'd hate Kibaou for sure. Heck, I already hated him from the anime so what's the difference. He kept saying how the Beta Testers left the beginners to fend for themselves and how the Beta Testers got the good quest and items. What really annoyed me was when he said for the Beta Testers to apologize and give all the items and money they got. That's when I kind of snapped.

"You're an idiot." I said, and everyone looked at me. "Tell me this, Kibaou. If the Beta Testers really left you guys behind to go on ahead… why hasn't Floor One been cleared yet? Further more, the amount of deaths weren't only cause by monster battles, but by suicide. Also, how do we know that Akihiko Kayaba didn't change something in the game without anyone knowing. I'm sure the Beta Testers would've already gotten to Floor Twenty if it was the same format as in the Beta." Kibaou just glared at me, as I sighed. "Our main focus is clearing the Floors so we can get back home. Personally, I don't care if anyone is Beta or beginner. We all have the same goals. It's just some do better at surviving instead of pointing fingers. Also…" I pulled out my guide book." You got this from the items store right? It was free after all."

"Yeah, so what?" Kibaou growled.

"I can confirm that it has all the information that puts us on an equal playing field with the betas." Everyone gasped at my words. "So I'm sure everyone has the guidebook, we're not here to point fingers. We're here so that we don't make the same mistakes the other plays did. Now then, if we can continue on?" I looked at Kibaou, who just scoffed and went to his seat in the front. I didn't care I stole someone else's line. Since I watched Sword Art Online, Kibaou was the most ridiculous and annoying character to me, even more annoying than the antagonist from the second arc of the anime. It is a wonder how he got a position of power in the future because the guy is a moron and a cheater himself. I just needed to at least mock him at least once. Something to cross off my bucket list.

"All right, let us resume." Diabel said, gaining control again. "The latest edition of that guide book has just been issued, and it contains information on the boss." The got everyone's attention and even Kibaou looked in with interest. "According to it, the boss's name is Illfang the Kobold Lord. He is guarded by assistants known as Ruin Kobold Sentinels. He is armed with an axe and a buckler. He has four health bars, and when the last one enters the red, he switches to a curved sword-type weapon called a Talwar. His attack patterns changes, as well." Diabel closed his book as the crowd muttered in amazement. "This concludes the briefing. Lastly, items will be automatically distributed. EXP goes to the party that defeats the monster. And whoever receives an item keeps it. Any objections?" No one made a sound of protest, not even Kibaou thankfully. "Okay, we leave tomorrow at ten in the morning. See you there!" With that, the meeting ended and I left with Asuna.

"Why are you following me?" Asuna asked, after a while.

"Oh, well we're in the same party and I just wanted to introduce myself." I said, rubbing the back of my neck. Damn, even anime tropes are following me. "Anyway, my name is… Belle." I didn't want to tell her my real name yet but I want her to trust me. Besides, Belle is a part of my name so I'm kind of not lying. "Anyway, you name is Asuna right?"

"How did you know that?" Asuna asked, warily.

"Check your HP bar. There should be two names under yours." I said, and it took a minute for Asuna to see it.

"Okay, so the boy's name is Kirito." I nodded and I think she smiled a little. "Okay, my name is Asuna. Nice to meet you, Belle." The rest of the day went by and I talked to Asuna a little. She was mostly quiet but I didn't mind. Heck, I was beginning to like Asuna. From what I got from her in the anime was that she was this too serious tsundere that depended too much on Kirito to save her; even reaching Princess Peach levels of annoyance in my book. Anyway, we were eating dinner, which wasn't much. Just some water and very hard bread.

"I feel like we're in prison or something." I said, trying to munch on some of the rock colored bread. I can't wait to start learning how to cook, I'll be able to make better food than this piece of Styrofoam.

"Pretty tasty, isn't it?" We looked to see Kirito walking up to us.

"Sure, if you like eating the hardest bread imaginable." I groaned, trying to nibble on my bread.

"It's not that bad. I eat one once a day since I entered this town." Kirito said, sitting between Asuna and me. "Of course, I change it up a bit." He pulled out a small jar from his pouch and placed it next to me. "Go on, try it." I nodded and tapped the top of the jar, making a finger glow. I traced it onto my bread and I smiled a little.

"It's cream, right?" I asked as Kirito nodded, letting Asuna have some as well. Honestly, I've never seen cream like this. I always thought it was butter or something.

"Yeah, trust me. It'll taste better now." Kirito said and I bit into the bread with cream. I was surprised to find it actually tasted pretty good, heck it kind of reminded me of home when my mom and I would eat pastries with a bit of chocolate. I didn't know how quickly I finished the bread but it was gone.

"Thanks, Kirito." I said, with a sigh.

"No problem. I guess you checked my name." Kirito said and I nodded. "It's a reward from a quest called 'The Heifer Strikes Back' in the town before this one."

"Oh, that one. I didn't get a chance to do that quest." I said, and that was true. I was a little too eager to level up and I kind of skipped that quest by mistake.

"If you want to do it, I'll show you the trick." Kirito offered, but Asuna and I shook our heads.

"I didn't come to this town to eat good food." Asuna said, and I looked at my sword.

"Yeah, we've got to get out of here soon. If we stay on the first floor for much longer, some of us will lose hope." I said, and placed my sword on my lap, I looked into the blade and saw my reflection in the dim light. "I'm not losing to this world or Akihiko Kayaba. If I die, I at least know I didn't give up without a fight." Kirito just stared at me before finishing his bread.

"I wouldn't want a party member dying on me… So at least, don't die tomorrow." Kirito said, and I scoffed.

"Believe me, don't need to tell me that twice." I said, looking up at the sky and standing up. "Anyway, I'm gonna head back to the inn. I'll see you guys tomorrow." I walked off before the two could stop me. Those two are supposed to be together, right? I wonder if that conversation started the whole relationship. So then, did I just ruin the Asuna and Kirito love? God I hope so; that pairing annoyed me. Then again, if this were airing back at home I'm sure I'd get a lot of flame mail. I smiled a little at that thought and entered the inn for the night.

The next day, everyone met up and we all walked to the large tower where the boss is suppose to be. All the way, Kirito was reviewing the plan to Asuna and me but I wasn't paying too much attention. After a while, Kirito stopped me; putting a hand on my shoulder.

"Hey, have you been in a party before?"

"Huh? No. In fact, this is my first MMO." I said, and Kirito looked close to shock. "Look, I can do this. I've been training pretty hard and I know what you mean by switching and all."

"How do you know if you've never played an MMO?" Kirito asked, as I rolled my eyes.

"I heard it from my friends." I said, but sighed. "Anyway, I'm Belle."

"Kirito." The shota Gary Stu said, but I nodded.

"Anyway, We'll get along at least. Right now, we should focus on defeating the first boss."

"R… right." Kirito said, as I walked ahead next to Asuna. We soon arrived at the near top of the tower and in front of a large door when Diabel stopped us.

"Listen up, everyone." He said, putting down his sword and looking at everyone. "I have only one thing to say. Let's win!" No one said anything, mostly because everyone was nervous. "Let's go!" He opened the door and we all entered to see the boss sitting on a throne. The lights turned on as everyone got inside and the boss roared for battle; his little minions joining him and the battle begun.

"Asuna, Belle, switch!" Kirito ordered, and we charged in. I managed to get rid of a few sentinels with my sword and the more I fought, I felt a little stronger. Maybe it was the effect of the game on me. Finally, the boss was at its last bit of health and he threw away his shield and axe.

"Looks like that information was right…" Kibaou said, grinning.

"Stand back! I'll go!" Diabel shouted, charging into the battle for the final kill.

"Diabel, stop!" I yelled, not able to stop myself. That monster isn't the one from the guidebook, Diabel will get killed if I don't do something. I don't know what made me but I charged in after Diabel, a sword in my hand ready to defend.

"Belle, get out of there!" Kirito shouted, but it was too late. The boss took out a mean looking sword, jumped onto the ceiling and tried to strike Diabel but I managed to block it with my sword. Bad thing was, we were both sent flying. I tried to move but the boss attacked again and this time struck Diabel multiple times. Why wasn't I hurt? Because Diabel wrapped his arms around me and took the attacks head on. Finally, we were thrown to the side and Diabel let me go.

"Diabel!" I shouted, as Kirito joined me. "Hold on, I got some…" But Diabel stopped me from giving him healing potion.

"You were… a beta tester, weren't you?" Diabel asked me, but I shook my head.

"No, I'm not… You can say I'm worse than a beta tester." I said, shaking my head as Kirito looked at me.

"But then… how did you know about the boss?" Kirito asked, but I shook my head.

"I can't tell you… I don't even understand what's really going on anymore…" I said, but I looked to Diabel.

"You were after the last attack bonus rare item… You were a beta tester, too?" Kirito said, looking at Diabel. He nodded with a sad smile.

"Please... defeat...defeat the boss. For everyone." Diabel pleaded, looking at us with determination. I wanted to say more but he just faded away into a little shimmers of light. Even for a beta tester, he did so much for everyone. Even as he was dying, he asked to defeat the boss for everyone. Me? I'm not even sure I could be that strong.

"Kirito..." I said, getting up with my sword in hand. "Lets finish what Diabel started.

"Right." Kirito nodded and Asuna joined us.

"I'll go, too." Asuna said quietly.

"Thanks." Kirito said with a nod and we charged in. "We'll do it just like the sentinels."

"Right."

"Got it." Asuna and I replied. The No-Dachi (weird boss name but who cares) got it's charged shot out but it was reflected Kirito's sword.

"Switch!" Kirito shouted and Asuna and I ran in, swords ready.

"Asuna, dodge!" I shouted, as the No-Dachi slashed at her. Thankfully it only ripped off her cloak and that have us an opening to attack.

"Keep going guys!" I shouted, and we did our switch tactic again. That is until Kirito tried to be the hero and started fighting the boss on his own... Which resulted in a healthy slash to the chest. "Kirito!" I shouted and managed to catch him but the force of his attack pushed Asuna and me to the ground. Thankfully, the attack wasn't enough to kill Kirito. The bad news was... The No-Dachi was hovering over us and ready to strike. Asuna and I raised our swords in defense when a hammer just went flying right into the No-Dachi's blade. I almost forgot we had a mini army with us since they charged at the boss without a second thought.

"We'll hold him off till you recover!" The African American who had the large hammer shouted to Kirito. I recognized him as the one I stole the speech against Kibaou.

"You're..." Kirito said with a small smile, but the rest of the troops went into battle.

"Here." I said, holding out healing potion to Kirito. "You need it more than I do right now."

"Thanks, Belle." Kirito said, quickly drinking the potion and getting up. At once, Kirito ran at the boss and managed to get it down onto the ground. "Belle, Asuna, one last hit! We'll do it together!"

"Rodger that!"

"On it!" The three of us charged in and got in really good shots before Kirito finished the No-Dachi off. The congratulations banner finally appeared and I cheered a little with the others; the boss was finally defeated. Though I am a little scared to think of what the other bosses are like. A few of the guys were now congratulating and thanking Kirito for finishing off the monster until...

"You bitch." Everyone stopped and looked to Kibaou. He sat on the ground with a few other guys but he was glaring right at me. "Why did you let Diabel die?"

"I didn't let him die. I offered him a healing potion but he didn't accept it." I argued, feeling my hands tremble. I only felt a little guilt but it was true.

"But you knew that technique the boss used!" Kibaou shouted, tears in his eyes. "If you had told us about that up front and if you didn't charge after him, he wouldn't have died!"

"I was trying to save him okay! Anyone with a right mind and read the guide could tell something was wrong when the boss pulled out that new sword!" I shouted but not most of the players were muttering under their breaths. The only ones who didn't seem hostile were Asuna, the African American guy, and Kirito, who didn't even look at me.

"But that's not all." Kibaou growled, turning his attention to Kirito now. "You knew too! The way you acted, the two of you have been working together!"

"They must be beta testers!" A man near Kibaou shouted, pointing at Kirito and me. "That's how they knew all the boss's attack patterns! They knew, but they never told us!" I could just feel the glares stabbing into me and in away, they were right. I could've said something and saved Diabel's life; but to be honest I wasn't sure if I was allowed to. Not only that, I'm the beta tester for some whacked out system Kayaba invented. "Other beta testers are here, too, right? Even some of those special beta testers. Come out now!" All the happiness from the victory was replaced by fear and suspicious looks. At this rate, they'll start killing each other before we open the door to floor two.

"Hey, come on..." The African American guy said, trying to make peace but then there was this laugh that came from Kirito. It kind of felt like a mix between insanity and evil... Which was probably his intention.

"A beta tester?" Kirito asked, getting up. "I wish you won't compare me to those newbies."

"Wh...what?!" Kibaou shouted.

"Most of the thousand beta testers were beginners who didn't even know how to level up." Kirito said, walking through the group as they made way for him as he went to stand in front of Kibaou. "You guys are better than they are. But I'm not like them. I made it higher than anyone else during the beta test. The reason I knew the boss's skills is because I fought monsters with katana skills on floor far above us. I know a lot more. Way more than any information broker." I finally got to see Kirito's face and I was a little shocked to see he did look evil. Seeing it in person, it almost felt like he was telling the truth; but I knew better.

"Wh...what?" Kibaou managed to splutter out before glaring hatefully at Kirito. "That's... That's worse than a beta tester! You're a fucking cheater!" All anger towards me was now directed at Kirito, who managed to keep his evil smirk and proud pose.

"A beta tester and a cheater..."

"A beater!" The crowd began to shout and I couldn't take it

"Stop it, guys! I thought..."

"A beater..." I turned to look at Kirito, who seemed pleased by this new title. "I like it." That caused everyone to gasp, they probably weren't expecting him to like being called that... Then again it would be rude to say that to anyone. "Okay, I'm a beater." Kirito continued as he opened his menu and started going through his inventory. "From now on, don't confuse me with the other testers." He pressed a button and a black coat appeared on Kirito, the coat of midnight and that completed the evil gamer look. He gave one last smirk to Kibaou before walking off. After a few feet, I ran after Kirito. It was enough of a distance so that no one could hear us so I finally asked the question that was on my mind.

"Hey, Kirito." I said and he looked at me over his shoulder. "Why did you cover for me back there?"

"Because you're not a beta tester. I can tell by the way you fight." Kirito said, calmly. "You know the basics but it's still shaky. But tell me, are you a special beta tester? Even with the lack of skill, you knew what that boss was."

"Not sure if I should answer that what with the reactions and all." I said shrugging. "But what'll you do now?"

"I'll go on playing solo." Kirito said, but he seemed to be watching me. "You and Asuna are still going to stay a party after this, right?"

"Huh?" I didn't expect Kirito to say that, we never talked about plans after the boss fight. "Probably, if Asuna is okay with it."

"You're really strong but try to get a better blade." Kirito suggested, looking away from me. "If someone you trust invites you and Asuna to join a guild, don't it down. There's a big limit to what you can do as a solo player."

"Like always being lonely?" I asked and Kirito gave me a glance. "We may not be in the same party but the least we can do is friend each other." Kirito didn't reply, he just opened his main menu and signed out of the party. With that, he just left for the second floor, leaving me standing there. I didn't budge as the other players advanced after Kirito and soon, Asuna joined me.

"Hey, are you alright?" Asuna asked.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" I asked, confused.

"You just looked a little sad to see Kirito go." Asuna said, a hand on my shoulder.

"I just... well..." I shut my mouth before I could finish my sentence. I didn't want to say out loud that I was feeling bad for Kirito. But I did, he even helped cover for me when people were starting I call me a beta tester. He probably knew I was one; hopefully not the special ones. But that still left me owing Kirito a lot. "Say, Asuna... Lets stay a party."

"Sure. But we should change your sword. You don't seem to be familiar with that heavy sword." Asuna said, as I sheathed my bronze blade.

"Yeah. Thanks, Asuna." I managed to say with a small smile and she smiled back.

"Come on, let's go." Asuna said and I nodded. Together, we walked to the next floor as partners. Asuna may be a generic but I guess we kind of are friends now... Surprisingly, I actually don't mind.

* * *

Crystal: and this is the chapter. To be honest, I liked this chapter.

Anna: yeah, you powered through this one.

Nihil: good job, Crystal. ^_^

Crystal: thanks guys.

Lunar: yeah but you got other stories to do.

Crystal: I know that and I'm getting there. TT^TT I've been busy for the last week. School has ended and I'm charged with cleaning the entire house for Christmas. Not to mention I have event pictures to do as well as my trip to Disneyland last Wednesday. But Anyway, I'm glad I finished this chapter. Join us next time in Chapter 3: Find my Place. See you soon!


	3. Chapter 3: Find my Place

Crystal: well, this took forever to do.

Isabelle: well, you've been busy during the whole of December. I just look at you, you barely got any real sleep until you got back from Vegas.

Crystal: Yes, I went to Vegas after Christmas and believe me, I had fun but I didn't get the chance to work on chapters. Still, I finally got time to post this chapter.

Isabelle: nearly killed her to do this chapter... the stress and staying up late to work on it.

Crystal: yes well, I'm finally gonna get some well deserved rest. So then, let's begin with the disclaimers.

Disclaimers: I do not own Sword Art Online. I only own Isabelle (or Belle). Now, please enjoy and also, no flames. If you do not like the fanfic, the back button is there for a reason.

* * *

Chapter 3: Find my Place

To be honest, I wasn't expecting an entire year to go by so quickly in SAO. Asuna and I just trained for a few months then joined the Knights of the Blood Oath when Asuna and I became friends with a few of it's members. I, some times, question why I even wanted to be in the guild when I knew it was clearly run by Akihiko Kayaba but hey, keep your enemies close right? But being in the guild wasn't so bad. Thanks to the fact that we fight so much, I leveled up pretty fast and even got a lighter Chinese sword; but it's a two handed grip, which I'm fine with that. Sadly I forgot what type its called, maybe I'll ask my history teacher when I get back home.

Asuna and I started living together too and to be honest, Asuna isn't that bad. I think I felt my dignity die saying that though. I mean, I still don't like the way she's shown in the anime but spending more time with her and seeing how upset she was in being trapped in SAO; kind of made me feel a little more for her. Also, we both started to learn how to cook and we take turns in making meals life isn't so bad; that and the food was good. Goodbye horrible bread! The only down side is that she keeps pushing me to train all the time. I know she's serious about leaving and she doesn't know I'm fully in the game but she just won't stop. We even train and fight on days off, which have become close to nonexistent these days.

Because of this, I haven't had much contact with Kirito... Not that I'm complaining about that. I know for a fact his year has been the one with the most mental trouble since he joined the Moonlit Black Cats and they all died. I just don't wanna be near him when he's still moping about it. Heck, only one death was Kirito's fault; which was the leader of the guild since Kirito could've stopped him from committing suicide. I still remember from the anime that Kirito said to stick to the usual hunting grounds but the rest got cocky with their level. I still see Kirito from time to time when he comes in for meetings when we need to fight the boss and we do talk… but it's mainly me keeping Asuna and Kirito from snapping each other's necks.

But then something happened that made me cross paths with Kirito for the plot... And it's the episode I slightly dreaded. Asuna and I had just arrived on to the newest floor when we heard someone shouting. Among a group of people was a single man, tears in his eyes and shouting in desperation. I kind of wasn't sure what made me do it, but I went to the man and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Calm down, it's okay."

"It's not okay! Please, someone avenge my friends! I'll pay anything!" The man shouted and I nodded.

"I'll do it, you don't need to pay me though." I said, with a small smile.

"Belle?" I looked to see Kirito standing behind the crying man. "You're going to help him too?"

"Yeah, I didn't expect you to be here." I said, crossing my arms. Well, I kind of lied. I hoped Kirito wasn't here so that I could take the mission by myself. I needed a break from the front lines.

"Belle!" I heard Asuna shout to me. "Come on, we have to go!"

"Tell Heathcliff I'm gonna take a few days off!" I shouted back.

"Eh?! Belle, come on! We don't have time for this!" Asuna said, coming to take my arm.

"Asuna, please." I looked at her, she looked so serious but so was I. "At least let me help him. I'll go back to the front lines after this." Asuna stared at me hard but then sighed.

"Okay fine. But be careful." Asuna said, and she finally noticed Kirito. "Oh, hey Kirito-kun."

"Hey." Kirito said, waving a little awkwardly as I helped the other guy up. I was surprised when I saw Asuna glare at Kirito; maybe I did mess with the Kirito and Asuna pairing.

"You better make sure Belle doesn't get hurt, okay?" Asuna said sternly, as I sighed.

"Come on, boys." I said, and dragged Kirito and our client away. It took about a hour to calm the man down when we got to the diner and it took about maybe forty minutes for him to explain what happened. I didn't have to listen to much but I knew the gist. The leader of the murder guild, Titan's Hand, had come into their guild and a few days ago they were ambushed. The only survivor was this man and I felt kind of bad. His friends were murdered by people who couldn't take this death game seriously; if I were in his shoes, I'd feel the same way.

"Here." The man placed a large teleport crystal on the table. "It took a while but I used every bit of col I had to buy this. It's set to the prison where these people belong."

"Okay, we'll do it. Don't worry." I said, trying to give him a comforting smile but I don't think I did it right. How can I even smile at a man who saw his friends get murdered?

"Thank you." The man said, bowing his head.

"You should get some rest. We'll deal with everything." Kirito said. The man just nodded numbly and walked to the inn. For a bit, there was just awkward silence.

"So... How've you been, Kirito?" I asked, scratching the back of my neck.

"Good, I guess..." Kirito trailed off, not looking at me. "I see you're in a guild now. I can't believe you and Asuna managed to get into a top guild and turned into floor clearing badasses."

"Yeah, we worked really hard for it." I said, smiling a little.

"I heard that you or Asuna may be chosen to be the new vice commander." Kirito said and I nearly laughed as Kirito raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Kirito, I'm not gonna be the vice commander. Never wanted that job to begin with. Besides, I think Asuna wants it more than me." I said, waving a hand as Kirito just stared at me. "Okay, what is it?"

"Sorry, I just realize I don't think I've ever seen you smile before." Kirito marveled as I gave him a deadpan look.

"Really? That's all you gotta say?" I asked as Kirito looked close to laughing. "Not funny. Anyway, we need to find this Rosalia person."

"Yes. I'll talk to one of the info brokers and see what they know." Kirito said, getting up from his seat.

"You better not leave without me, Kirito. I want to help they guy too." I said as Kirito passed me.

"I know you do." Kirito said quietly. I turned to try and see the look on his face but it wasn't facing me. "I'll come by tomorrow and we'll started looking for Rosalia."

"Okay... I'll be at the inn." I said. Kirito just nodded and left without another word. When did things get weird between Kirito and me? Maybe he remembered what happened in the boss battle and is still thinking I may be a beta tester. I knew I had to be careful around him now. If he saw me bleed from a cut or maybe a bruise; he'll suspect something.

It took us a few days to find out what we needed and planning on how to approach Rosalia. Finally, Kirito and I traveled to floor thirty-five. It seemed pretty peaceful and I did question a few people to as if they've seen Rosalia and turns out people saw her with a small party just this morning, going to the Lost Forest. The only problem was the fact that we didn't know where the party was. The only detail we got was that she was in a party with Silica, the dragon tamer. So for the whole day, Kirito and I just fought monsters as we tried to find Silica or Rosalia... Yeah that last one won't happen. Like we're that lucky, right?

"You got better since we last met." Kirito pointed out as we walked through the forest at night.

"Well, yeah. It's been a year or so since we last met. Asuna's been keeping me in top shape and I even got myself a new sword." I said, patting my trusty Chinese blade.

"Seems a bit light." Kirito said, looking at my blade.

"It's actually not but then again that might just be me." I said, shrugging. Sudden, a cry broke through the woods and Kirito and I looked ahead. "That must be Silica. You look after her while I take care of the monsters."

"Got it." Kirito nodded and we rushed in. The monsters kind of weren't that hard to beat, they looked like giant mutant monkeys. It took about fifteen minutes for me to get rid of the three that were around. Now I'm kind of glad I do solo hunts once a week. I looked to Silica, who was on the ground with tears in her eyes.

"Pina... Don't leave me alone." Silica sobbed, and picked up what was left of the tiny dragon... Which was a glowing feather. Silica kept sobbing as I put my sword away and looked to Kirito. Again, I already dealt with a sobbing person. It's someone else's turn. Don't get me wrong, I feel bad for Silica but in a way it kind of was her own fault in my opinion. She gave all her healing crystals to Rosalia and didn't even bother to get them back after she stormed away from her party.

"What's that feather?" Kirito finally asked, letting Silica son for two minutes.

"It's Pina. My partner..." Silica managed to say between hiccups.

"You're a beast tamer right?" I asked, going to kneel beside Silica and patting her back. "Sorry, if we had come sooner..."

"No, I was being stupid." Silica said, shaking her head. Her head bent down so that we wouldn't see her cry. "I was stupid to think I could make of through the forest on my own." She looked at us, still with tears in her eyes but she looked a little better. "Thank you for saving me."

"Does that feather happen to have an item name?" Kirito asked, kneeling on Silica's other side. Silica checked and sure enough, it said Pina's heart. Yeah, it's in Japanese but some how it translated into English for me. Thank you technology! But seeing that the feather was Pina's heart, Silica broke out into sobs again.

"Don't cry." Kirito said, in a surprisingly comforting way. "If Pina's heart is still here, you can revive her."

"Really?" Silica asked, hopefully and I nodded.

"There's this place on the south side of Floor Forty-Seven, the field dungeon there is called the Hill of Memories. It's rumored that a flower grows there that can revive pets." I said and I could see the hope in Silica's eyes but then get suddenly dashed.

"Floor Forty Seven..." Silica said in a slight whisper.

"If you have us the GP, we'd go for you but if the pet's owner isn't there, the flower won't bloom." Kirito said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"That information is enough." Silica said, smiling a little. "If I work hard to raise my level, then some day..."

"But the time limit to revive a pet is three days." I pointed out, much to Silica's disappointment.

"No..." Silica said, her voice quavering again as she looked down at the feather in her hands. "It's my fault. I'm sorry, Pina."

"Don't worry." Kirito said, standing up and opening his main menu. "This equipment should be enough to raise you a good five or six levels." Okay, I will admit that this made Kirito a little freaky. Why was he carrying around equipment meant for girls? Silica seemed to feel the same was since she took a small step back as she stood up.

"Why would you do this all for me?" Silica asked, a little nervously. Kirito looked surprised and put a hand to his head.

"If you promise not to laugh, I'll tell you." Kirito said, not meeting my eyes.

"I promise." Silica said, her face serious and determined. Kirito didn't look at us, instead he just covered his eyes with his hand.

"It's because you look like my little sister." I'm not ashamed to say this... I busted out laughing at this line! Silica didn't look a bit like Suguha. Heck, Silica looks more like my brother, Jason, than Suguha.

"Not funny, Belle." Kirito grumbled, turning away. Was he blushing?

"Sorry, it's an inside joke thing." I said, waving my hand and that got Kirito's attention.

"What...?"

"Um..." We looked to Silica who had her main menu open to trade and was gonna give us money. "I'm sure this isn't anywhere near enough to pay, but..."

"It's okay, you don't have to pay us." I said, as Silica looked up at me in amazement.

"This isn't entirely incompatible with our reason for being here." Kirito said and Silica looked confused.

"So we can help each other while we're together. I'm Belle." I said, holding out my hand.

"I'm Silica." Silica said, shaking my hand happily.

"I'm Kirito. We won't be working together long, but it's nice to meet you." Kirito said, as Silica turned to shake his hand. Together, it didn't take us long to get back to town but I noticed Kirito staring at me as I talked with Silica. But it seemed like Kirito was trying to read me with that stare. I shouldn't have said the whole little sister thing was an inside joke. 'Now the guy probably suspects me even more. Good job, Isabelle.' I thought, clenching my fist.

"Belle-san, are you all right?" Silica asked, looking concerned. I forgot... Since my program for me is English, I think the dialogue translated well.

"Yeah, just hungry. I haven't eaten since lunch today." I admitted, rubbing my stomach. I knew I should've brought some sandwiches with me.

"Oh, well then I know this good place in town!" Silica cheered and I smiled. I found Silica okay, mostly because she reminded me of Jason.

"Okay, lead the way." I said and we followed her into town. I have to admit, the town here on Floor Thirty-Five was pretty nice. The lights made it have this warm glow, like the lamps back home.

"There's Silica-chan!" We looked to see two guys running two is and I remember these two. I nearly laughed knowing that they pretended to be something they weren't and they're still together, even after SAO ended.

"You're late! We were worried!" The large one in green said. He was probably a nice guy with that pleasant smile but then again, he tried to pass himself off as a hot guy and was hitting on some kid that turned out to be a teenage boy.

"U...um..."

"Let's party up sometime!" The one in pink said eagerly. "We can go wherever you want."

"That's very kind of you, but..." Silica said, trying to look for a way out of the stranger danger some but then latched onto Kirito's arm. For added affect, I latched into his other arm and he stared at me with wide eyes.

"Belle, what are you...?" He hissed but I put a finger to my lips.

"I'll be in a party with them for a while." Silica said and the boys instantly glared daggers at Kirito. They saw me and their dagger stares turned into death glares. "Sorry." Silica said and we left the boys to just glare at Kirito. "I apologize for that." Silica whispered with a sheepish look on her face.

"Your fans?" Kirito asked, with a small smile. "You must be popular."

"No." Silica said with a sigh. "They just want me along as a mascot. But I got full of myself when they began to call me Dragon Tamer Silica." Silica looked ready to cry again and I let Kirito go to pay her shoulder.

"Don't worry, with the three of us together; we'll make it in time to get Pina back." Silica then smiled at me, kind of like how Kacy would when we were younger.

"Right!" Silica said, wiping away a small tear. "So where do you guys live?"

"On Floor Fifty." Kirito answered and I sighed, slumping over a little.

"Asuna wants to save up to get a place with a better kitchen so we have a small place on Floor Fifty-One." I said, glumly. Did I forget to mention Asuna keeps a tight leash on our spending? Well, she does. Maybe that comes from her being a girl from a rich family.

"So we'll stay here at the inn." Kirito said, and I nodded.

"Really? The cheesecake is really good here." Silica said, looking happy again.

"Oh, if it isn't Silica." A woman spoke and we looked to see none other than Rosalia with Silica's former party. "You made it out of the forest. I'm relieved."

"If you were so worried about her, you should've helped her back here." I growled, getting in front of Silica.

"Who asked you?" Rosalia asked but then examined my uniform. "Oh, that uniform. You must be one of the Knights of the Blood Oath. What's a person like you doing so far away from the front lines?"

"Helping a friend with a favor. Then again, that's a foreign concept to you." I said, my arms crossed and glaring up at the woman in front of me. She had an air of arrogance and she loves to sexualize herself. I have to look in if all the guilds she had killed were filled with men because just being near her is pissing me off and I wanted nothing more than to send her to prison right now. She looked behind me and saw Silica, probably not looking up at her.

"Oh, what happened to the lizard?" Rosalia said with mock concern. "Could something..."

"Pina died." Silica said simply before looking at Rosalia in the face. "But I'm definitely bringing her back!"

"Eh? Then you're going to the Hill of Memories." Rosalia drawled, what annoying smirk on her face. "But at your level, will you be able to clear it?"

"She will." Kirito said, joining me to stand in front of Silica. "It isn't that hard."

"You're another one she seduced?" Rosalia asked, examining Kirito. "You don't look particularly strong to me."

"Looks don't always define power." I said, looking to my companions. "Come on, lets go eat."

"O...okay." Silica said and we walked into the inn's diner. Dinner was kind of a quiet affair, what with Silica still thinking about Rosalia and Kirito not having much to say; needless to say it got awkward. I sat next to Silica, but I'm starting to regret it. Kirito went back to staring at me; as if waiting for me to slip up on something and reveal my secrets. Finally, after we finished dinner and waited for desert, Silica spoke.

"Why is she so mean?" Silica asked in a hushed voice.

"Is SAO your first MMO?" Kirito asked.

"Yes." Silica said with a small nod.

"In online games, since no one knows each other personally; some people like to act as the bad guy." I said, drinking a bit of my tea. I know I said I didn't plan MMOs but it's a concept everyone knows; heck it's even like that on chat rooms and stuff.

"Yes, some of them even enjoy playing as outright villains." Kirito pointed out. "Our player indicators are green, right? However, if you commit a crime, the indicator will turn orange. The worst criminals, played killers, those who've killed someone, are known as red players."

"You mean murderer?" Silica asked, shocked.

"Yeah, had to believe played killers still even go around. We were all there when Akihiko Kayaba said these games will kill us. Seems like even in a game of life and death, they can't take things seriously." I said, with a frustrated sigh.

"They treat of like it's nothing." Kirito said, gripping his mug and I noticed his fingers were trembling. "This game isn't really a game at all."

"Kirito-san?" Silica asked as Kirito looked to her.

"I'm sorry." Kirito said, growing quiet.

"You're a good person!" Silica shouted, putting her hands on his. "You saved me!"

"Seems like you've cheered me up instead." Kirito said with a small smile. "Thanks, Silica." At this Silica pushed away, blasting madly and blabbing about the cheesecake being late.

"And another girl falls for the protagonist power." I groaned, looking out the window.

"Protagonist power?" Kirito asked and I knew I really slipped up.

"It's nothing!" I tried to shout but it came out more of a squeak. Once we got the cheesecake, I made sure to keep my mouth shut and when we finished the cheesecake I ran to my room and shut the door. It was a simple room, a single bed with a small table, a chair and a window; which was good for me since it didn't cost much. I quickly changed to a simple blue dress with a dark blue ribbon for my nightclothes; I usually wear Pjs but I like to change it up a bit.

"Damn that was close!" I sighed, flomping into my bed. I stared at the ceiling and didn't say anymore but my mind was racing. Kirito probably knows a thing or two now. He knows I have info about the game, probably suspects I may know his personal life, the fact I know the personality change in players (though that can easily be over looked), and now he's trying to work out what I meant by protagonist power. 'I need to keep a muzzle on me or something...' I thought, closing my eyes. I was about to fall asleep when I heard a knock on the door that nearly made me jump out of my skin. "Who is it?!"

"It's Kirito, we have to tell Silica about Floor Forty-Seven." Kirito called out and I got out of bed to open the door.

"Okay... But we should make this quick. I kind of nearly fell asleep." I said, managing to cover my yawn with my hand.

"Oh, if you were sleeping I could tell you tomorrow morning." Kirito said, looking honestly surprised.

"Nah, it's okay. Anyway, lets go." I said but Kirito grabbed my hand. "What?"

"Earlier, you said something. What was it?"

"Oh, that. That's just an inside joke my friends and I have." I said, sheepishly. For once, I'm not lying. It's something Lewis, Helen, and I have talked about when it comes to Kirito's abilities in the SAO. Sadly though, Kirito didn't buy it but he let me go all the same. So we headed to Silica's room and Kirito knocked.

"Silica, are you still up?" Kirito asked.

"Kirito-san?" Silica asked, and I could just see her blushing while in her undies. Lewis was right, Silica is the jailbait of this series.

"Belle and I forgot that we had more to tell you about Floor Forty-Seven. Want to go over it tomorrow?"

"Not it's okay. I was just thinking about..." Silica stopped and I had to turn away to giggle.

"Huh? What is it, Belle?" Kirito asked, as I tried to conceal my laughter... With no luck.

"Sorry, another inside joke." I said, as Kirito narrowed his eyes.

"How many 'inside jokes' do you know?" Kirito asked, and I couldn't help but grin in pride.

"A lot." Sadly, I hate Sword Art Online yet I remember it so well because of the fact that... It was slightly entertaining with the excellent animation and the bad characters. Anyway, we got inside after a few minutes. Silica wearing a simple short dress and sitting on the bed, blushing as Kirito moved the table and chair.

"Silica, is something wrong?" Kirito asked, taking out a mirage sphere.

"No, it's nothing." Silica said, waving her hand. "Kirito-san, what's that item?"

"It's called a mirage sphere." Kirito said, pressing the button and the box opened and a hologram sphere appears.

"It's so pretty!" Silica marveled.

"Here's Floor Forty-Seven's town area. And this is the Hill of Memories" Kirito said, pointing to a spots on the map. "So we'll be following this route…" Kirito stopped, and looked toward the door. I heard it too, footsteps right outside the door.

"Kirito-san..." Silica asked, but we motioned her to stay silent and ran to the door.

"Who's there?!" Kirito shouted but the person was already running down the stairs and out of sight.

"What was that?" Silica asked nervously, joining us in the doorway.

"They heard us." Kirito said, and I nodded.

"Obviously someone's really interested in us now."

"But unless you've knocked, you can't hear through a door..." Silica pointed out, as we walked back into the room.

"It's difficult if your listening skills is high enough." Kirito added, looking serious. "But few people invest the time to raise it."

"Why would they want to listen in on us?" Silica whispered as we looked back at the closed door behind us.

"I don't know but we should be careful tonight." I said, patting Silica's shoulder. "Right now, you need rest. Do you need us to stay with you tonight?"

"N...no. It's okay, Belle-san. I'll be fine." Silica said, blushing a little and not looking at Kirito.

"Alright, message us if you need us." Kirito ordered, as the two of us left Silica in her room.

"You think Silica will be okay?" I asked Kirito as we entered my room.

"As long as she doesn't open the door to anyone else; she'll be safe." Kirito said, as I sighed.

"Wish we could tell Silica the truth." I said, but now it was Kirito's turn to pat my shoulder.

"She'll be fine. You'll see. Anyway, you should sleep now. I'll wake you up for breakfast tomorrow." Kirito said, and for once he was smiling at me. "Good night, Belle."

"Right. Night, Kirito." I said, and I closed the door as he left the room. Even though with the whole thought of played killers keeping an eye on us, I fell asleep the moment I hit the pillow. As usual, I dreamed of home, being with my family and friends but it was also sad. It'll be a while before I see them again. I wonder if anyone is looking for me and those special beta testers back in the real world. Heck, I began to wonder if Danny is even in SAO. I spend an entire year looking and haven't found a thing. I woke up to the sound of someone knocking on my door.

"Go away." I groaned, covering my head with my pillow. I wanted to keep dreaming of home, I didn't wanna wake up and face the life and death game again.

"Belle, come on. We have to eat then go to Floor Forty Seven." I heard Kirito call from behind the door.

"Okay, fine. I'll get us." I said, sitting up with a yawn. I quickly got dressed and washed up a bit before opening the door. "Morning."

"Hey..." Kirito said, staring at me.

"What is it?"

"Your hair." Kirito said, smirking. I looked back into the room at my mirror and I saw I had a serious case of bedhead. I quickly closed the door and brushed my hair but I could hear Kirito laughing on the other side of the door.

"Not funny!" I shouted, brushing the knots out of my hair.

"I didn't think bedhead was an issue in SAO." Kirito snickered as I came out of my room and glared at him.

"Usually, it's not. Anyway, lets eat. I think I can eat a cow."

"You sure are a pig, Belle." Kirito snickered and I glared at him.

"I'm just hungry, and besides I'd rather eat a lot now so I don't get tired while we get that flower with Silica." I said, walking on ahead. Breakfast wasn't that bad. I talked to Silica and Kirito joked that my hair looked like a beehive... I kicked him under the table for that one. One thing crossed off my bucket list: I finally caused Kirito some physical harm. After that, we went to the teleport plaza and appeared on Floor Forty-Seven.

"It's like a dream!" Silica awed and I couldn't blame her. Floor Forty-Seven had to be one of the prettiest parts of Aincrad. The entire floor was a flower garden and with the smell of thousands of different flowers, it's a good place to take a day off. Sadly though, since it's so pretty, this floor is usually a date spot for couples.

"This floor is also known as the Flower Garden. The entire floor is covered in flowers." Kirito said, while Silica went to admire some of the flowers.

"Feels kind of weird since we're on a floor usually for couples." I said, scratching my arm.

"Hm?" Kirito asked, looking at me.

"Oh come on, it's obvious that Silica has a crush on you." I pointed out as Kirito looked taken a back.

"Wh...what? What makes you say that?"

"Wow, you're dense." I commented, rolling my eyes. "Anyway, we should get going."

"Yeah." Kirito said, walking over to Silica. Her ears were a clear red since she was staring at all the couples. "Silica?"

"Yes! Sorry for keeping you waiting." Silica stammered, getting up quickly and dusting off.

"What's wrong?" Kirito asked, confused.

"Ah, nothing at all..." Silica said, fixing her bangs.

"Lets go." Kirito said, as I sighed.

"Just like I said, dense as hell." I said and we followed Kirito out of the main flower garden. Once we got to the bridge, Kirito stopped us and handed each of us a teleport crystal.

"What's this?" Silica asked.

"If anything unexpected happens, and I tell you both to warp out, use this crystal to jump to any town." Kirito ordered and I glared at him.

"Hey. I can take care of myself. I'm level sixty-nine now." I said and Kirito stared at me in wonder.

"You're at that level already?"

"Well, Asuna keeps pushing me and I already do a lot of level grinding on the side." I said, with my arms crossed.

"And I can help if something goes wrong." Silica said but Kirito still held up the crystal.

"Promise me." He said sternly.

"All right." Silica said with a defeated look and took a crystal, but I didn't touch the other.

"I already have a teleport crystal so I'm fine." I lied. Like I was gonna leave the lone twat to fend for himself if the battle with the Titan's Hand guild doesn't work out.

"Just take it, Belle." Kirito ordered. He didn't give me much choice since he took my hand and placed the crystal in it.

"Fine, like I even have an option around you." I said, putting the crystal away.

"Okay, let go then. This path leads to the Hill of Memories." Kirito said, and we walked in silence.

"Um... Kirito-san..." Silica started but then she screamed. We turned to see a Venus flytrap like monster had grabbed Silica and was hanger her upside down; it's mouth open ready to eat her.

"Calm down, Silica! It's really weak!" Kirito ordered, but then kind of covered his eyes. It was evident Silica was trying to keep her skirt from falling and well... She didn't want to show her goodies to the world.

"Save me, Kirito-san! Don't look, but save me!"

Silica shouted, swinging her sword as if trying to swat the monster away.

"That's impossible." Kirito pointed out, peeking through his fingers.

"Wow, you're a pervert." I said, as Kirito blushed.

"No I'm not!" Kirito shouted as I rolled my eyes.

"Says the guy who's peaking through his fingers." I added, dully. Silica, thankfully, beat the monster before it turned into a tentacle hentai.

"Did you see?" Silica asked, her face a little red.

"No, I didn't." Kirito said, closing his fingers.

"Good god, man. You are weird." I said, shaking my head. "Anyway, lets keep going." The rest of the way, I kept silent because the rest of what Kirito was saying about Suguha, I already knew. I could tell Kirito right now that she knows that Kirito is really her cousin but I kept my mouth shut. Mostly because it isn't my place to say.

"Belle-san?" I looked to see Kirito and Silica staring at me. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, just thinking." I said, waving my hands and Kirito narrowed his eyes at me but seemed to relax.

"The flower if up ahead." Kirito said, pointing to a small area.

"Oh, right." I said, as Silica ran on ahead.

"Belle, what were you thinking?" Kirito asked quietly, as we walked toward where Silica was.

"Just about my brother. Hearing you talk about your cousin just made me think about my brother... He must be fourteen now and getting ready for sophomore year."

"Huh? If he's fourteen then..."

"I'm American, so different forms of schooling that Japan." I said, shrugging.

"Oh... I guess that makes sense. You never use suffix when you call people." Kirito pointed out as I nodded.

"Yeah, don't feel the need to some times." I said and we finally reached Silica, who was marveling the glowing white flower on the alter.

"Take it." Kirito said with a small smile. Without hesitation, Silica took the flower and the item screen said it was called the Pneuma Flower. Hm... I never could get the name right of this thing.

"This will bring Pina back, right?" Silica asked, and I nodded. "I'm so glad..."

"But there are a lot of strong monsters around here." Kirito pointed out. "Lets revive her after we get back to town. I'm sure Pina would prefer it that way."

"Yeah." Silica said and she stored the flower away and we walked back down the path. This time, the monsters weren't so bad and Silica was smiling more, which was kind of nice. At least she's not on the verge of crying anymore. Even Kirito looked like he was smiling for real and stopped staring at me. We made it to the bridge and Kirito stopped us, glaring at a nearby tree.

"Kirito-san?" Silica asked, confused but Kirito's stare didn't stop.

"Whoever's behind those trees, come out." Kirito ordered and out came the obvious villain: Rosalia.

"R...Rosalia-san?" Silica gasped.

"If you can see through my hiding skill, your detection skill must be quite high, Swordsman." Rosalia said, but I rolled my eyes.

"No, you stick out like a swore thumb in that outfit." I commented but Rosalia just chuckled.

"It appears you managed to get the Pneuma Flower. Congratulations." Rosalia said with mock kindness before turning back to that cruel look. "Now hand it over."

"Wh... What are you taking about?" Silica asked, as I got in front of her to shame beside Kirito.

"You're not taking anyone's item today, Rosalia." I said, firmly.

"Or should we call you leader of the orange guild, Titan's Hand." Kirito added, smirking a little.

"But she's green!" Silica whispered to us.

"It's a simple trick. The green members find targets, and lead them to where the orange players are waiting." Kirito said, a hand on his hip. "That was one of your friends listening to us last night, right?"

"Then, the reason why we were in the same party for two weeks..." Silica whimpered, her face now a portrait of horror.

"That's right." Rosalia said, with a smirk similar to a snake. "I was assessing it's strength, while waiting for them to earn money from adventuring." Okay, this woman is a snake. The way she licks her lips is not only disgusting but also pretty creepy. "You were the prey I was most anticipating. It was unfortunate you left, but then you said you were getting a rare item. However, you two knew all that but went with her anyway. Are you guys idiots? Or did she actually really seduce you?"

"No, I don't swing that way. Besides we were more interested in finding you, Rosalia."

"What are you talking about?" Rosalia asked, almost a little bored now.

"A few days ago, you attacked a guild known as the Silver Flags. The only one who survived was the leader." I stated as Rosalia twirled as bangs between her fingers.

"Oh, the losers with no money." Rosalia said, and I glared at her. She didn't care she was killing people, to her this really was a game.

"Their leader went from the warp point to the front lines, from morning until night, begging someone to avenge them." Kirito said, his voice firm and maybe even a bit cold. "He didn't want you killed. He wanted someone to jail you. Can you understand how he felt?"

"Nope. What kind of idiot would take this seriously? There's no proof that killing someone here means they die IRL." The red head said and I was tempted to slit her throat with my sword.

"You fucking moron." I growled and Kirito and Silica stared at me. "We saw the proof on the first day we arrived in SAO! Kayaba had those news reports in the sky with the number of people dead! If you really want to test your theory..." I quickly took out my sword and pointed it at Rosalia. "Why don't we test it here. I kill you and you send me an IM when you get to the real world. You seem confident that you won't die." At this, Rosalia flinched and I could hear Silica whimpering but I didn't care. It's people like Rosalia who don't care for that this game is already killing us and yet still commit murder. It took a minute for Rosalia to regain her cool but she still seemed shaken up.

"Whatever. Anyway, shouldn't you be more concerned for yourselves?" Rosalia said, snapping her fingers and a couple guys walked out from hiding spots. How they were able to hide, I have no idea. The trees weren't thick enough to hide anyone.

"Kirito-san, Belle-san, there are too many! We should run!" Silica panicked, but a put a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry, it'll be okay." I said, and Kirito patted her head.

"It's all right." Kirito urged and looked to me. "Belle, you and Silica need to stay back. I can handle this. If anything happens, use the teleport crystals and get out of here."

"Alright, but if you need any help; I'm gonna rush in." I said, and Kirito's smile got a little bigger.

"I got this." Kirito said, walking towards the group of killers with nothing but his sword in hand.

"Kirito-san!" Silica cried out and that got the attention of the other players.

"Kirito?" One guy asked.

"Black clothes… a one-handed, no-shield style. That can't be the Black Swordsman…" This made the men nervous

"Rosalia-san, this is the beater who solos the front likes… he's in the lead group!"

"And that girl back there is a member of the Knights of the Blood Oath. Belle of the Wind." Another guy said, as I took out my sword. Wait, I got a nickname now… awesome. Rosalia, being the idiot that she is, didn't seem phased by the fact that Kirito was a famous beater.

"The lead group?" Silica asked, looking at me for confirmation and I nodded.

"Yeah, that's how Kirito and I kind of know each other." I said, smiling a little.

"Someone from the lead group wouldn't be down here!" Rosalia said, confidently. "Get him and take everything he owns! We'll deal with the other two after that!" With that, the men attacked. They slashed, hacked, and tried to do some damage onto Kirito but he just stood there like nothing was wrong. Just then, I noticed someone coming towards us, a sword in hand.

"Silica, get down!" I shouted, and blocked the blade.

"Belle-san!" Silica screamed behind me. Guess someone thought I was better game than Kirito since I'm a Knight of the Blood Oath. I was about to disarm him when he slashed at my arm. At once, pain shot through my body and my sleeve was beginning to get soaked by my blood. I quickly gripped my sword with both hands and disarmed the guy before knocking him down, my sword pointing at his neck. "Belle-san! Your…" I put a finger to my lips to tell her no to speak as I took out a potion and drank it. At once, the cute on my arm healed but the stain was still here. I'll have to cover that later. I looked up at Kirito to see he was still standing there but I wasn't sure if he saw what happened.

"We gotta help." Silica said, taking out her small dagger but I stopped her.

"Look at his health bar. Those guys aren't doing anything to him." I said, pointing to Kirito's health bar, which kept regenerating Kirito every few seconds.

"What are you doing?! Kill him already!" Rosalia ordered but I can hear a bit of panic in her voice now.

"About four hundred, in around ten seconds. That's the total damage you seven can do to me." Kirito said, firmly. "I'm level seventy-eight. I have 14,500 HP. My battle healing skill auto-regenerates six hundred points every ten seconds. We could stand here all day, and you'd never beat me."

"Is that even possible?" One guy asked.

"It is." Kirito confirmed. "High enough numbers will make you invincible. MMOs that use a level system are unfair that way." Kirito took out from his pocket the large crystal our client gave us earlier. "Out client spent his entire fortune to buy this warp crystal. It's set to take you to the prison. You're all going there!"

"Well, I'm green! If you hurt me you'll go orange and…" Rosalia said, her pear positioned in front of her but Kirito moved at lightning speeds and had his sword to her neck. I couldn't here what he said but I knew it scared Rosalia… man, I wished I could've put my sword to her neck. Why does Kirito get to be the badass at times? Anyway, we rounded up all the members of Titan's hand, removed their weapons, and sent them to the prison floor. All the while, I noticed Kirito staring at me and I'm sure he noticed the blood stain on my white sleeve. Its times like this I wished Heathcliff didn't have us wearing mostly white. We went back to the inn in silence and I went to my room to switch my coat and shirt. I'll have to either wash or burn these clothes. I don't want Asuna to know I'm one of the special beta testers, not yet anyway. I had just opened my door to leave when I saw Kirito standing outside my door.

"Oh… hey Kirito." I said, a little nervous.

"Can I come in? I need to talk to you about something." Kirito asked, in a calm collected tone that made my spine crawl a little. All that was going through my mind was 'I'm dead, he knows… but how much does he know?'

"Actually, I was about to…"

"It'll be quick." Kirito said, and before I could stop him, he walked into my room and closed to door.

"Kirito, I really…"

"You're one of those special beta testers." Kirito didn't ask, he stated with a normal look on his face. "I guessed as much but seeing you bleed earlier confirmed it."

"Wait, what?" I asked, as Kirito sat on my bed.

"I talked to a few info brokers about the special beta testers and they confirmed that the best way to find a special beta tester is to see if they get physical injuries while here in SAO." Kirito said, looking at my new shirt and coat. "But no one knows what else makes you special beta testers so important…"

"We just knew a few extra things the other testers don't know." I said, leaning against the wall. "But yeah, I'm a special beta tester and the reason why I bleed is because I've been brought into the game full body and mind." Kirito just stared wide-eyed and shocked.

"How is that even possible?"

"I don't know. The point is, this is more than a game to me for that reason. I'll die a bloody death here if I'm not careful." I said, looking up at Kirito. "You mind not telling anyone about this? I don't want to be targeted."

"Don't worry, I wasn't planning to." Kirito said but smiled a little. "You're pretty strong, Belle. You know your limits since you're a special beta but you're still aiming to be stronger."

"Yeah, I have a reason for why I want to go home badly… but you're an okay, guy, Kirito." I said and I felt a part of me die again. The day I say something nice to Kirito, I swore I'd clean my mouth with soap. "Anyway, I gotta go. I have something to discuss with my guild. Can you tell Silica I'm sorry for not saying goodbye?"

"Sure, I'll see you later, Belle." Kirito said, nodding and I smiled a little.

"Say, why don't you finally friend each other. That way, we can discuss stuff we know about SAO." I offered and Kirito nodded.

"All right, if you're okay with it." Kirito said, and together we added each other to our friends list.

"Anyway, see you later, Kirito." I said, waving to him and left the room. After this whole thing, I think I finally came up with what I wanted to do while a member of the Knights of the Blood Oath. I quickly arrived at the headquarters and went to Heathcliff's office. He sat here, and looked up as if he was expecting me.

"I was wondering when you'd come back, Belle."

"Sorry, I had something to do." I said, and he nodded.

"Yes, Asuna told me you were off doing a favor for another player." Heathcliff said passively. "I was also hoping to talk to you about being vice commander of the Knights of the Blood Oath."

"I'm flattered but I must decline the offer." I said, seriously. "Instead, I was hoping I could do something else. After doing the favor for the guild leader whose members got murdered, I think we're in need of an investigative group."

"Oh?" Heathcliff said, looking interested.

"I was hoping to head this group within our guild. We need to keep a look out for players from murder guilds so I could look into their backgrounds before we allow them into the guild." I offered and honestly, I was expecting the commander to object to my proposal. Instead, the man before me smiled with a knowing look on his face.

"Alright, you have my permission to select a group of our members to be an investigative group. But I hope you know you'll still be fighting along the front lines." Heathcliff pointed out as I nodded. "Also, I would like your branch to be in charge of evaluating new members."

"Alright. Thank you, commander." I said, feeling a little grateful. But that died when I saw the look in Heathcliff's face. It's like he knew something I didn't and I felt like I had fallen into a trap.

"You are excused, Belle-sama." Heathcliff said, and I had no choice but to leave the room.

"Belle!" I turned to see Asuna running to me, looking a little upset. "Why didn't you tell me you got back? I was worried, you didn't message me in five days."

"Sorry, I was really busy and I just arrived back here." I said, sheepishly. "Anyway, I just talked to the commander and I'm not going to be the vice commander."

"You're not?" Asuna asked, surprised.

"No, besides, you'd do better than me." I said, smiling a bit. "I'm gonna be the head of the investigative and evaluations for our guild from now on. But I'll still be fighting with you."

"Belle, that's great news!" Asuna cheered, taking my hand. "I'm sure you'll do great."

"Thanks, and I'll be a great vice commander." I said, and together we walked back to our little apartment but I couldn't help but feel uneasy. If Kayaba knew I was from the real world, did he know what was going to happen next? I'll have to keep a better eye on him from now on.

* * *

Isabelle: so I run my own operations within the Knight of the Blood Oath... nice. Thanks, Crystal... Crystal?

(Crystal curled up in her bed, sleeping)

Isabelle: um... okay. Guess she's really tried after all. Um... (looks to everyone) so... we'll see you next time... and please be there for Chapter 4: Playing Detective. See you all then.


	4. Chapter 4: Playing Detective

Crystal: and we're back for another chapter.

Anna: Are you trying to forget my story?

Crystal: no, it's just... I keep checking how many people view your story... and it's kind of depressing.

Isabelle: and this story is doing better?

Crystal: surprisingly yes.

Monkey: (pokes her head over) has anyone left any negative reviews that i can use to make s'mores?

Isabelle: none. Not a single flame.

Crystal: which is a good thing. :)

Monkey: that's nice and all... but i wanted s'mores TT^TT i even brought marshmallows to roast and everything!

Isabelle: what's with the cup then?

Crystal: for the tears from the Asuna and Kirito shippers.

Monkey: sadly, it's been left empty.

Crystal: anyway, on to the disclaimers!

Monkey: SAO does not belong to either of us. if it did, then the second arc would either be nonexistant, or different.

Crystal: ^_^; anyway, please enjoy this chapter and please, no flames. I know we joke about it but really, no flames. If you do not like the story, the back button is there for a reason.

* * *

Chapter 4: Playing Detective

After starting up my new group of investigators, I was pretty busy but Heathcliff still kept me fighting on the front lines. Balancing my new job and fighting was starting to really test my endurance though. I found that every night, I would fall asleep as soon as I hit the pillow but then again that's to be expected. Kirito and I haven't been able to talk much since I was busy but we did meet up for boss meetings. Anyway, Asuna was running another boss battle meeting on Floor Fifty Six. All the guilds were there, (well, the ones that were interested in clearing the game) discussing on how to defeat the boss and get to the next level. We had a pretty decent number but I noticed (thanks to my job) that fewer people are signing up to be part of the Knights of the Blood Oath. After a few minutes of silent muttering, Asuna slammed her hand onto the table.

"We'll lure the field boss into the village." Asuna ordered and everyone gasped and stared at her.

"W… wait a second." Kirito stammered in shock. "If we do that, the villagers…"

"That's the idea." Asuna said, firmly. "While the boss is killing NPCs, we'll attack and destroy it."

"NPCs aren't just 3-D objects like trees and rocks. They're…"

"You think they're alive? Really?" Asuna said, coldly. "They're only objects. Even if they're killed, they'll just re-spawn."

"Sorry, I can't go along with this." Kirito said, shaking his head as Asuna stood up straight and looked at Kirito.

"I, Asuna, Vice Commander of the Knights of the Blood Oath, will oversee this operation. You will obey my orders." Asuna said, in a commanding tone that made her worthy of her position. But I had to point something out.

"Asuna, there's a slight flaw to your plan. How do we know the boss won't ignore the NPCs?" I asked, curiously and even Asuna seemed a little stunned by this question. I looked to Kirito as well now. "And Asuna does have a point about the NPCs. They can re-spawn but we don't have any proof this plan will work." I looked to everyone, who were now staring at me. I kind of became Asuna's voice of reason while during these meetings and since I run my own investigation branch in the guild, I'm used to people staring at me now… but only a little. "We should at least test if the boss will go for an NPC rather than a player and if it does go for the NPC, we'll go through with your plan. I know it's a lot of work but we should do this if we want to avoid any player deaths." That got everyone's attention and finally, Asuna agreed.

"Why do you and Kirito always have to go against what I say?" Asuna asked as we left the meeting.

"Hey, I didn't object to your plan. I just wanna have proof that this plan will work." I said, raising my hands in surrender. "Besides, even you didn't know it would fully work." To that, Asuna didn't object but she stared at me.

"I just noticed, Belle. You got bags under your eyes." Asuna said, and I tensed up. "I didn't think SAO was that detailed."

"Me neither." I said, with a sheepish smile. I will admit, even though I've lived with Asuna for about a year and a half now, I never told her I was a special beta tester. Mostly because if I tell her now, it'll get too awkward and she may try to pull me off the front lines; which I can't afford. The whole reason why I even joined the Knights of the Blood Oath was to keep an eye on the plot of the SAO anime, as well keep a look out on Heathcliff to see if he'll mess up somewhere. Still, after all this time and nothing majorly important has been happening, I'm starting to rethink things. In fact, the only reason why I'm still in the guild is again, to watch out for the plot. Being friends with Asuna just happened to be a happy accident.

So a few weeks went by and before I knew it, it was already April. I ended up working myself to exhaustion to the point that even when Asuna tried to wake me up, I slept right through it. In fact, I was so out of it, I didn't realize something important was gonna happen relating to the plot when I woke up one day. I quickly ran to the highest floor, which happened to be Floor Fifty Nine and as I ran, I noticed a certain Gary Stu napping under the shade of a tree. Okay, as much as I try to get along with Kirito, seeing him nap like that did annoy me. I work my ass off trying to balance my fighting and my job at the guild and he gets to take a nap because he's a solo player.

"Hey!" I yelled, stomping over to him but he didn't even flinch. "What do you think you're doing? Aren't you supposed to be on the Front Lines with the others?"

"Then what are you doing here, Belle? It's rare not to see you doing something." Kirito said, lazily as I looked away.

"I kind of… slept in really late. I had a lot of files and players to look through." I said, scratching my nose.

"Guess even you have days like that." Kirito said, with a slight chuckle and I blushed in both anger and embarrassment.

"That's beside the point, why are you napping when we're all working hard?" I asked, annoyed.

"It's Aincrad's nicest season, and today is the nicest weather setting. Entering the dungeon on a day like this is a waste." Kirito said, closing his eyes and just trying to go back to sleep.

"Geez, you're weird. The weather is always the same on this floor." I said, shaking my head but I felt the breeze come. I will admit it felt nice.

"See? The wind and sunlight feel so good." Kirito said, enjoying himself. "If you'd lie down for a bit, you'd understand."

"Oh please. If I relaxed, Asuna is gonna chew me out." I said, but I sat down beside Kirito anyway. "She keeps saying that a day lost here is another one we lose in the real world."

"Yeah, but we're alive in Aincrad." Kirito said, and I yawned a little.

"I know, I told her that but it's hard to tell someone who is so determined." I said, and I looked up at the tree, seeing the light from the artificial sun seep through the leaves. "I guess this is kind of nice." I looked at Kirito to see he was already asleep.

I sighed and took out my menu, getting a book from my storage. I felt like I needed at least one day off and I managed to some how find one of my favorite books had somehow made it into SAO… though how, I have no idea. I don't know how much time had passed or when I dozed off but when I opened my eyes, it was already sunset. 'Odd, it was morning a second ago.' I thought, yawning.

"Morning." I looked up to see Kirito sitting on a small stonewall… and my book in his hand. "You slept like a rock. Oh by the way, nice book."

"How long was I even asleep?" I asked, getting up and walking over to my kind of friend.

"Most of the day, don't worry though. I told one of your guild members you were going to take the day off." Kirito said, handing me my book back.

"Thanks, though Asuna's gonna yell at me when I get home." I sighed, putting away my book. "Anyway, looks like I owe you again."

"Again?" Kirito asked, and I sighed a little in annoyance.

"The time you covered for me during the first floor boss. I still owe you for that one." I said, as Kirito rubbed his neck as he looked away from me.

"Yeah, well. I kind of thought that when we worked together to arrest Rosalia counted as you making it up to me. After all, you could've told the truth to Silica and you did protect her; nearly risking revealing yourself."

"Anyway, I kind of owe you two so I'll pay you back one by giving you a free meal." I said, poking him in the side, making him jump. "Anything you want. My treat."

"Anything?" Kirito asked, and I nodded. "Well then, lets go." So I followed Kirito to Floor Fifty Seven and to a restaurant. I remember coming here one time with Asuna and they do have some good pasta here. Sadly, my uniform and status caught a lot of attention.

"Isn't that Belle from the Knights of the Blood Oath?"

"Yeah, that's Belle of the Wind."

"Who's the guy in black?" I felt a little annoyed at hearing my title. I mean, Belle of the Wind? It seems weird to me. Kirito, too, didn't seem happy about getting the attention of everyone in the restaurant.

"Anyway, thanks." I said, sipping my cup of water.

"Huh?" Kirito asked, not paying attention.

"You know, for covering for me again… but you also for staying with me when I was napping." I said, swirling my glass a little. "With the new way player killers are killing others is getting big. Using the duel system to kill sleeping players out of the town safe zone."

"Right. Normally, duels are just tests of strength." Kirito confirmed. "But during a duel, HP can go down, even in a safe zone."

"Yeah, it's even to a sleeping player to press the duel button but it's unfair. Not only that, being what I am, I don't wanna risk getting attacked like that and revealing with I am." I said, sighing. "It's the downside of doing investigations for the guild. I find out a lot of different stuff and it gets harder to sleep at times." I looked up at Kirito and smiled a bit… okay, I'm going insane if I'm smiling at Kirito of all people. "So yeah, I owe you one now. I'll make you lunch or something to make us even."

"Oh… well okay." Kirito said, shocked, but seemed to relax. "Anyway, you seemed tired today." He then lowered his voice and leaned in a little. "Is it because of the special beta?"

"You could say that. My body isn't exactly used to the amount of stress I'm dealing with." I said, yawning. "I need more workers to help me with the investigations to I can at least get some hours of sleep."

"Yeah, it must be difficult but you've done an amazing job from what I hear." Kirito said, as I looked up at him. "You pick good people who can help the guild and you even pose questions and tests when it comes to bosses to lower risk to players. Makes me glad we have someone like you around to help Asuna."

"Yes, well that last bit… someone has to say something. You and Asuna seem to be at each other's throats." I pointed out as Kirito gave a nervous laugh. "Anyway…" I was cut off by a scream from the courtyard.

"Come on, Belle!"

"Right!" The two of us ran and we looked up at the tower to see a man dressed in blucky armor. He was handing by his neck from the highest door of the clock tower and red sword sticking out of his chest.

"Hurry up and pull it out!" Kirito shouted.

"I'll go get him!" I shouted and I ran up the stairs as fast as possible. I knew what this episode was and I have to say, this was one of the few good episodes from the anime. Still, I heard the grunt of pain from the guy, someone screaming and Kirito shouting orders to find the winner icon. "Kirito! There's no one up here and I don't see a winner icon in the crowd!" I shouted from the balcony. Kirito looked up at me and ran inside the tower to talk to me. I waited for him and he came in with the sword (in the show it's said to be a spear but it looks like a sword to me) that was inside the guy.

"So, what is this?" Kirito asked, gesturing to the rope behind me.

"Can't really say." I said, calmly. "But this can't be a sleeper PK. It's too elaborate. Besides, there was no winner icon so it must be something else."

"I agree, but what else can we say?" Kirito asked, as I sighed.

"Not sure, but right now we gotta figure out what's going on." I said, looking out the door to see people gathering and looking nervous. "If there is a way to kill someone in a safe zone, everyone's gonna freak out. For now, I'm sure the guy isn't dead."

"Wait, you don't think he's dead?" Kirito asked, as I shrugged.

"We'll need to leave the front lines for a bit, but I'm sure the others will understand. For now, we got to solve what's going on." I said, walking to stand in front of him. "Guess we're working together again, so you better not nap."

"Yeah, well. You're the one who took the longest nap." Kirito teased and I dug my fingernails into his skin. "Ow! Wait… that actually hurt." Kirito stared at me and I shrugged.

"Hey, I'm a special beta tester who is living and breathing this world. Maybe because I'm real, the pain I give is real as well." I said, as Kirito nodded.

"We can think about that later. But we're working together again." Kirito said, and I smirked a little.

"This seems to be happening a lot."

"Yeah, no kidding." Kirito added and the two of us went down and back to the crowd. "Excuse me. Did anyone see the whole thing? If you did, please speak up." Kirito asked the crowd and they started talking among themselves again. Finally, a girl with wavy blue hair came out of the crowd. She looked nervous and shaking like a leaf.

"It's okay. I know you're shaken up, but please tell us who you are." I said, trying to be gentle. Thank god for working with people more now because I could pull it off but then again, the girl before me is the best actor I've seen in this anime.

"My name is Yoruko." The girl said, in a quiet and quivering voice.

"Was that first scream yours?" Kirito asked.

"Y… yes." Yoruko said, nodding looking sad. "I just came here to eat dinner with the man who was killed. His names was Kains. We sued to be in the same guild. But we got separated in the plaza." At this point, she started crying real tears and again, she's the best actor in this anime. "I looked around, and I saw him hanging from the church window…" At this, she broke into sobs and I went to pat her back.

"It'll be okay. Can you tell us if you saw anyone else near Kains?" I asked, gently.

"It was just for a second, but I thought I saw someone behind Kains." Yoruko managed to say and I knew she was acting at this point. She was sobbing for one minute but managed to speak clearly.

"Yoruko, can you tell me if you recognized the person you saw?" I asked, but she only shook her head.

"I hate to ask this…but do you know why anyone would've wanted to kill Kains?" Kirito asked, but Yoruko just shook her head looking terrified. After getting some food (I paid for Yoruko's food as well as added her to my friend's list) we dropped her off at the inn she was staying at.

"Thank you for walking me here and for dinner." Yoruko said, bowing to me a little.

"Hey, it's okay. Do you mind if we talk to you more tomorrow about this?" I asked, and Yoruko nodded. "Okay, we'll meet up at the same restaurant we just ate at." Yoruko nodded and bowed before leaving Kirito and me alone.

"So, what now?" Kirito asked.

"Well, we only have that sword that impaled Kains so we should have someone take a look at that." I said, as we walked into a nice grassy courtyard.

"Then we'll need someone with an appraisal skill." Kirito pointed out, which I agreed with a nod. "You… obviously don't have one.

"Right back at you, buddy." I said, my arms crossed starting to think about Lisbeth. "I know someone why may be able to do it, but she's been really busy these days and it's kind of late."

"I see. Then let's ask an item merchant I know." Kirito said, with a smile. "I think you know him. He helps out in boss battles and is a mace user."

"Oh yeah, Egil. He fought along side us in the first floor boss battle." I said, smiling a little. I finally remember his name and I did know a little about him from my job.

"Yeah, so lets go. This shop is on Floor Fifty." Kirito said, walking a little ahead and I followed. We made it to Floor Fifty and walked to a back alley shop. One guy left looking like he was really worn out and I could hear Egil inside. "Seems you're just as greedy as ever."

"Hey, Kirito." Egil greeted, smiling at him. I think he's one of the few people who really smile at seeing him now. "Buy cheap and sell cheap. That's my motto."

"I don't know about that second part." Kirito added, bro-fisting Egil.

"Don't go slandering my good name." Egil said, and he finally noticed me standing in the doorway.

"Hi." I said, waving and Egil instantly freaked out and pulled Kirito over the counter. I could hear Egil freaking out and I kind of didn't see the big deal. He saw me talking to Kirito a couple times during boss meetings and even outside of that, just talking normally. "Um… I know you're freaking out, but we're kind of here on important business." I said, and the two guys finally looked up as I crossed my arms. "Do you think we can discuss this in the back?"

"Huh, sure." Egil said, and lead us back to his living quarters. There, Kirito and I explained everything that happened on Floor Fifty Seven and placed the sword on the table between us.

"Someone's HP dropped to zero within a safe area? And it wasn't a duel?" Egil asked, and I nodded. To be honest, I saw the HP bar with Kains, I'm surprised Kirito didn't check but the guy's HP wasn't going down. Guess he was too distracted to really see.

"No one saw a Winner icon." Kirito pointed out and I nodded.

"He was with Yoruko only a few minutes before he was killed it wasn't a sleep-PK." I added.

"The method is too involved for some random duel." Kirito said, as I looked to Egil.

"It would take maybe about an thirty minutes to impale Kains, and then drag his body up to the tower and hang him." I said, and the two guys stared at me with nervous looks on their faces.

"How… how do you even know that?" Kirito asked, as I huffed.

"Just use your brain. It's simple timing." I said, my arms crossed before looking to Egil. "Anyway, this has to be a planned killing. The only evidence we have though is sword. Egil took the red blade and started going through the stats of the sword, which begs me to question why you need a skill to look carefully into a blade.

"It's a player-made weapon." Egil confirmed, shocking Kirito but I nodded.

"Makes sense, I've never seen a sword like that before." I said, as Kirito stared at me. "What? Again, I have to know things since I investigate everything for new guild members now."

"Still, Belle, we don't know who made it." Kirito added.

"Anyway, the player who made this is named Grimrock. Never heard of him…" Egil said, examining more on the sword's information. "He's not one of the top-ranked bladesmiths, I can tell you that. And there's nothing particularly unusual about the weapon."

"Okay, that's a little underwhelming." I said, looking at the elaborate red sword.

"Tell us it's item name, too." Kirito ordered.

"Lets see…" Egil said, looking again at the list. "Guilty Thorn is its listed name."

"Guilty Thorn…" Kirito said, taking the sword to examine it himself. "Okay…" He adjusted the blade and was about to stab his hand when I stopped him.

"Don't even think about it." I said, firmly, my hand tightening around his wrist.

"Why?" Kirito asked coolly and I glared at him.

"You may not think it, but injuring yourself like this just to test a sword is stupid." I said, before going in to whisper in his ear. "Or have you forgotten I'm still a special beta tester. Even if you don't bleed, it's still serious to me." I glared at Kirito and he glared back, I began to wonder who would cave first when Kirito handed me the sword.

"Fine, I get it." Kirito said, with a sigh and I almost smiled.

"Thanks." I said quietly before handing the sword to Egil. "Can you hold onto this for us?"

"Um… sure." Egil said, taking the sword, gingerly.

"Anyway, thanks for the help, Egil." Kirito said, as we stood up.

"Yeah, sure." Egil said and we left to return back to Floor Fifty Seven.

"Hey, Belle…" I looked to Kirito, who was staring at the ground almost in shame.

"What?"

"Sorry, I acted that way earlier." Kirito said as I raised my eyebrow.

"Huh?"

"When I was going to stab hand. I forget some times you can actually get hurt here." Kirito said, and I noticed he actually did seem a little guilty.

"Hey, don't worry. You forgot but at least try to remember stuff like that in the future." I said, with a sigh. "Anyway, I'll see you tomorrow. I'm gonna stay at the Inn tonight."

"Same here. It's better if we do that and we can keep an eye on things." Kirito said and I sighed.

"The I guess we can share a room then." I said, looking to an inn.

"Huh?!" Kirito asked, and I looked at him.

"We'll just split the cost and it's only this one time so it's nothing big." I said, and walked on as Kirito spluttered behind me. I maybe I should keep surprising Kirito more, he looked like a gaping fish for that one minute. Once we got to our room in the inn and I had messaged Asuna that I wouldn't be coming home, I looked to Kirito, who sat on his bed. "You know, Kirito… Kains's HP bar. Did you see it reach zero?" I asked as Kirito looked up at me.

"No, but how to you explain how he disappeared like that?" Kirito asked, as I sat opposite him.

"The way he just dissolved is similar to an object when its durability is gone." I pointed out, as Kirito thought for a minute. "I know I should've said something sooner but this is the safest place we can talk about stuff like this."

"Yeah, I understand. But if Kains is alive, what's going on?" Kirito asked, and for once I wanted to tell the truth. It was odd though, I spent more than a year keeping everything hidden and lied to the point I began to believe it myself. Guess I'm just at the breaking point.

"We'll learn more from Yoruko tomorrow. Anyway," I stood up and went to the door. "I'm gonna head to the bathroom, you should change while I'm gone."

"Huh? What about you?" Kirito asked, as I shrugged.

"Just look away when I switch clothes. And just so you know, if you even peak at me; I'll knock you into next year." I half warned, half joked.

"I'd like to see you try." Kirito smirked, and I took one of the needles I carried and threw it near Kirito's face. That shut him up nicely and I think he began to either sweat or wet himself. Is it even possible for normal players to wet themselves in this game? Oh whatever.

"Well, you got a small taste of that." I smirked at Kirito and left the room.

The next day, Kirito and I left the inn early to pick up Yoruko. Kirito and I agreed that it wouldn't be safe to leave her alone with her standing up as saying she saw the whole thing in front of the crowd. Naturally, I knew the truth so I just played along with Kirito's demands for now. But I'm beginning to think that he suspects more now, or maybe I'm reading too much into his expressions. Anyway, we went to the same restaurant that Kirito and I ate the day before and we had the whole place to ourselves. The owner of the place knew me so she let us have the hour to ourselves. For the first five minutes, it was quiet and really Kirito didn't seem to know what to say. I usually do interviews with players who want to join the guild so I took the first chance.

"So, Yoruko, we were wondering if you knew a played named Grimrock?" I asked, casually. That got an instant reaction from Yoruko, who looked instantly shocked.

"Yes. He was a member of the guild that Kains and I were once in." Yoruko conformed and I looked to Kirito, giving him the signal to take over.

"When we had the spear stuck in Kains-san's chest appraised, we found it was made by Grimrock-san." Kirito stated, and Yoruko looked instantly frightened by this news. "Can you think of any reason why that would be?"

"Yes, I can." Yoruko said sadly. "I'm sorry I wasn't able to tell you yesterday. I wanted to forget. It's something I don't really want to remember. However, I'll tell you. About how our guild was destroyed." I looked to Kirito, who nodded. We knew this would be important and I listened in carefully. Even though I knew the whole story thanks to the anime, it still was important to hear. Besides, I'm being given a free performance so I'm not complaining.

"Our guild's name was Golden Apple. Six months ago, we defeated a rare monster and it dropped a powerful ring that raised agility by twenty." Yoruko stated, quietly but it sounded normal within the empty restaurant. "We were divided on whether to use it for the guild, or sell it and split the earnings. But in the end, we put it by vote. The vote was five to three, in favor of selling it. Our leader, Griselda-san, was going to stay overnight at a large town on the front lines to give it to a broker. However, she never came back. Later, we learned that she'd died. I still don't know why."

"No one would leave a safe zone with that kind of rare item. Which means a sleep-PK?" Kirito reasoned, but I shook my head.

"No, that method is very recent." I pointed out, but Kirito looked deep in thought.

"But it's hard to think it's a coincidence." Kirito said, and I nodded.

"It probably wasn't. Judging but this info, its obvious Griselda was murdered." I said, and Yoruko looked like she was gonna cry. "Oh, sorry, Yoruko. That was insensitive." Great, I believe the act so much I'm apologizing.

"But whoever attacked her must have been a player who knew about the ring." Kirito said, as we looked to him. "In other words…"

"One of the other seven members of Golden Apple…" Yoruko finished, not looking at us.

"The most suspicious ones would be those who opposed selling it." Kirito reasoned again, and I nodded.

"That would make sense." I said, playing along. "They probably wanted the ring and attacked her before she either arrived in town or when she was delivering the ring."

"Yeah, that sounds like it." Kirito nodded and we looked to Yoruko again. "So, who's Grimrock-san?"

"He was Griselda-san's husband. Just within the game, naturally." Yoruko stated, and for once she smiled a little. "Griselda-san was a powerful swordswoman. Pretty. And smart. Grimrock-san was a kind man who was always smiling. They made a great couple, and they got along well." I wonder why they told the other guild members they were only married in the game. I mean, Griselda and Grimrock's real selves were married in the 'real' world. Also, even if I didn't know Grimrock's true involvement, even I could tell those smiles were probably fake just but Yoruko talking about them. "If he was the one responsible for yesterday's murder," Yoruko continued, "he must be after the three who opposed selling the ring. Two of the three were myself and Kains." That really got Kirito's attention and he was on heightened alert.

"The who's the other?"

"A tank named Schmidt." Yoruko stated, looking a little grim. "I've heard he's on the front lines now, with the Holy Dragon Alliance."

"Schmidt?" Kirito asked, leaning back on his chair.

"Yeah, I've spoken to him a couple of times during boss meetings. He leads the main defense force for the Holy Dragon Alliance and is very skilled with a lance. But since he didn't ask to be in the Knights of the Blood Oath, I didn't do a background check." I said, and Kirito nodded.

"Makes sense. But I remember seeing him." Kirito said, and that got Yoruko's attention.

"You know Schmidt?" She asked, urgently.

"Yes, he's a friend of mine." I said.

"And I've only seen him a few times while clearing bosses." Kirito added.

"Could you let me talk to him?" Yoruko asked me. "He probably hasn't heard about what occurred. And what happened to Kains could happen to him…"

"Don't worry." I said, reaching over to pat her hand and giving her a comforting smile. "I know Schmidt and I'll message him. I'll try to see if he can meet you today."

"First, we should get Yoruko-san to an inn." Kirito suggested, and looking to our new friend. "Yoruko-san, don't leave the inn until we return."

"All right." Yoruko said, quietly. After we took Yoruko back to the inn, we walked for a bit in the rain under some shades.

"So, Kirito, how do you think this whole murder happened?" I asked, hands behind my back as I walked.

"Well, even though you did say that Kains may not have been murdered, I see basically three possibilities on how it could've happened." Kirito said, a hand to his chin. "The first is a fair duel. The second is through an exploit that combines known methods."

"That last one is really possible." I said, thinking about it. "What about the third one?"

"Some skill we don't know about, which bypasses safe areas. Or possibly an item." Kirito said, but stopped in his tracks. "No, the third is impossible."

"You got a good point there." I said, looking up at the sky, which was really a ceiling. "As much as this place is a death trap, it's fair. Akihiko Kayaba at least knows better than to allow things to violate his safe zones."

"Say, Belle?" I looked at Kirito, who turned to stand in front of me. "Can _you_ still get hurt of someone attacks you in a safe zone?" I looked around carefully to make sure no one was watching and I nodded.

"Again, I'm here body and soul so it is possible; though I've never tried it. You guys at least have the benefit to have a avatar that is only linked to your mind." I said, with a sigh. "That's why I freaked out yesterday. I don't like it when normal players don't mind hurting themselves. If anything, there's nothing special about me or the other full body betas. In fact, I think we're the weakest players because we have limitations. Our bodies can only do so much."

"I see…" Kirito said, looking away. "It must've been hard this whole time. Trying to hide the blood and still fighting on the front lines with guilds all around you."

"Yeah, but I have to learn how to deal with it." I said, and tried to smile. "After all, I've made it this far without anyone else knowing. I'm sure I can keep going."

"Yeah, you've gotten better since the first boss fight." Kirito pointed out and he smiled at me gently. Looking at that smile, something in my stomach seemed to flutter; probably my breakfast not agreeing with me. "Anyway, lets get out of this rain… do you even get wet here?"

"Yep." I said, nodding and sneezed. "But I wish Kayaba at least invented umbrellas here." Kirito laughed at this and we hurried back to our in. We managed to get in contact with Schmidt and he agreed to meet with us and Yoruko at the inn that afternoon. Sadly, Schmidt was so freaked out by Kains's death, we had to explain it twice before it finally sunk in.

"Is it true that Kains was killed with Grimrock's weapon?" Schmidt asked, his foot tapping nervously on the floor.

"It is." Yoruko confirmed with a nod.

"Why would Kains be killed after all this time?!" Schmidt asked, clearly on the verge of a panic attack. "He… did he steal the ring? Was he the one who killed Griselda?" Schmidt sat back down in his arm chair and slammed his fist onto his leg. "Does Grimrock plan to kill the three of us who opposed selling the ring? Is he after you and me, too?!"

"It could be another member, and Grimrock-san just made them the spear." Yoruko reasoned. Again, looks more like a sword to me. "Or perhaps… it may be Griselda-san's revenge. Only a ghost could kill someone inside a safe zone." Okay, if Kirito was a gaping fish; Schmidt was a broken singing bass. The sounds he made did sound a bit weird, like the time when the singing bass my uncle had on his wall malfunctioned. I looked to Kirito, who looked a little shocked but I shook my head. I mean, really, a ghost in a video game? That's a little farfetched to me. I mean, sure Griselda's mind may be saved into the game… but I think that's a very slim chance.

"I stayed awake all night, thinking. In the end, all of us were the ones who killed her!" I jumped back at Yoruko's sudden outburst. "When that ring dropped, we shouldn't have ever voted… We should've just done what she wanted!" She backed up to the window, sitting on the frame, and I wanted to say how dumb it was. She acted like someone was going to kill her yet she sits right in front of an open window. "Grimrock-san was the only one who said we should simply let Griselda-san decide. So he has the right to take revenge for Griselda-san on the rest of us."

"You're kidding me. You've got to be kidding!" Schmidt said, now right on the fence from a panic attack. "After all this time, six whole months…why now?" For an army guy, this guy is seriously easily freaked. He never acted this way in boss battles but when it comes to murders and ghosts, he starts screaming? Also, aren't the Holy Dragon Alliance not that good to begin with? I heard they would murder to get a rare item so murder shouldn't be an issue. Schmidt stood up, looking at Yoruko in desperation. "You can't be okay with this, Yoruko! You're okay with being killed like this?" He was about to go to Yoruko when Kirito stopped him, shaking his head as if to say 'not right now'. Suddenly, there was a thud, and Yoruko turned to see a dagger was imbedded into her back before she fell out the window.

"Yoruko-san!" Kirito shouted, going to the window. I joined him just in time to see her vaporize into particles of light.

"Kirito! Over there!" I pointed to a figure in a cloak standing on some roofs a couple feet away from us. The moment the cloaked figure saw me pointing, he ran off.

"Belle, keep an eye on him!" Kirito ordered, and jumped out the window the chase after the figure. I quickly closed the door and tended to Schmidt. The guy couldn't be reasoned with and started shaking and muttering under his breath. After a while, I just decided to leave him there and wait for Kirito to return. While Schmidt was cowering in his armchair, I checked my friends list to see Yoruko was alive. When it finally got dark, Kirito returned.

"Hey, how did it go?" I asked, leaning against the wall.

"He teleported away." Kirito said, shaking his head. "The system protects the inns. I was certain she'd be safe here. Damn it." Kirito slammed his fist onto the wall as an immortal object icon appeared on the wall.

"It wasn't your fault, Kirito." I said, going to him and unclenching his fists to try and relax him. "Right now we have other things to deal with." I said, trying to give him an encouraging smile.

"That robe was Griselda's." Schmidt said, finally saying something clear. "It was Griselda's ghost…" And now he's gone back to being crazy again. "She's come for revenge on us all! Why couldn't a ghost PK in town?" He started letting out nervous laughs, and I sighed in annoyance.

"It's not a stupid ghost, okay!" I shouted, and the two men stared at me. "Kirito just said the guy needed to teleport. What kind of ghost does that?"

"You're right… it's not a ghost. The two safe area murders have to work using some logic that involves the system. They just have to." Kirito said, and I felt him gripping my hands. Oh god, I forgot I still had my hands in his.

"Um… Kirito, you can let go of my hands now." I said, and Kirito looked up at me then to my hands in his. He instantly let go and jumped back.

"Sorry, Belle. I didn't mean that!" He spluttered but I nodded before looking to Schmidt.

"You should stay indoors. Or at least calm down. You look ready to pass out or wet yourself." I said, and looked back to Kirito. "We should leave and let him calm down."

"All right." Kirito said, and left the inn. We walked to the courtyard and sat on a bench in front of the fountain.

"This whole things is pretty messed up." I sighed, leaning back on the bench. "I can't believe Schmidt still thinks it's Griselda's ghost even though you said it needed to teleport."

"Teleport…" Kirito said, as if he got a sudden thought.

"What's up?" I asked, but Kirito sighed in resignation.

"It's nothing." Kirito said, and I took out my menu.

"If it makes you feel any better. I know that Yoruko isn't dead." I said, and instantly Kirito sat up and stared at me.

"What do you mean? We just saw her…"

"Die? If she's dead, then why is she still on my friends list?" I asked, and I showed it to Kirito.

"But that doesn't make any sense…" Kirito marveled, staring at Yoruko's name.

"Anyway…" I took out a small wrapped package from my item storage and handed it to Kirito. "Here, you must be hungry."

"You're giving it to me?" Kirito asked, as I rolled my eyes.

"No, I'm giving it to the ghost beside you. Of course I'm giving it to you."

"Oh… thanks." Kirito said, taking the package and revealing the sandwich I made.

"You should eat it before it vaporizes. The durability is nearly at zero." I said, taking a container out and opening the lid to reveal some pasta and chicken I made this morning.

"Yeah…" Kirito said, and took a bite from his sandwich as I ate my pasta. "This is good. When did you have time to make this?"

"I made it this morning. That's why it's low in durability." I said, twirling my pasta. "It was kind of obvious that we wouldn't have much time to stop by for food at a restaurant."

"Wait, so you made this for real?" Kirito asked, as I nodded.

"Yeah, it kind of reminds me of home. I like to cook things that I used to make back in the real world." I said, smiling a little. "Back at home, I don't have a mother to cook meals so I learnt from my dad. It's one of the things I have in Aincrad that help me stay connected with my family."

"Wow…." Kirito said, and I noticed he was staring at me.

"What?"

"Nothing, I'm just surprised you can find time to get a cooking skill. You're usually so busy with fighting and helping with your guild." Kirito pointed out, and I was ready to kick him.

"I already said that cooking has an important to me. I'll always make time for it." I said, munching on my pasta.

"Say… can I try the pasta?" Kirito asked, and I raised an eyebrow.

"Why?"

"I just wanna see if it's any good?" Kirito said, and I sighed.

"You're lucky I wanna prove I'm a good cook." I said, and handed him an extra fork. He took a bit of pasta and ate it, smiling a little.

"It's really good!" Kirito said, and I couldn't help but smile. I love seeing people enjoy my food. "You know, you could put these up for auction and make a lot of money." I turned to look at Kirito with a raised eyebrow.

"Why would I? I mean, I know I'd get extra money but I usually only have time to make food for a small group. Usually friends." I pointed out and Kirito smiled to smile a little.

"So, you'll make me special sandwiches later?" I couldn't take it. I kicked Kirito's leg, making him drop his sandwich as it vaporized on the ground.

"I'm not your personal cook, Kirito." I growled, and Kirito fell to his knees. "Hey, you okay there? I didn't think my sandwich was that good that you'd have to cry over it."

"Quite." Kirito said, raising a hand to stop me before giving out a gasp.

"Um… you okay? You sounded like someone hit your nads." I said, with a raised eyebrow.

"That's right…"

"Wait, I didn't hit you there."

"That's not what I meant." Kirito said, urgently. "Belle, I think you were on to something. It is impossible to kill anyone in a safe zone, they tricked us all this time."

"Okay, speak normally Kirito. My avatar can understand Japanese but you need to be clear here." I said, as Kirito sat back on the bench.

"Remember yesterday when you said how when a player dies, it similar to when an item loses it's durability?" Kirito asked, and I nodded. "What we saw yesterday was just Kians's armor's durability fading. So you were right that he and Yoruko-san are alive. You also posed the question about not seeing Kains's HP drop and the fact that Yoruko-san is still alive on your friends list."

"So yesterday, all Kains did was teleport out of his armor when it reached zero, making everyone believe he died." I said, and Kirito nodded.

"With Yoruko-san, did you noticed during the whole meeting she never turned her back to us?" Kirito said, and I nodded.

"Yeah, it does make sense. She probably had the dagger in her back the whole time and just did that performance to throw us off." I said, as Kirito nodded. "So then the person in the cloak was always Kains."

"Yeah. Those two must have realized that they could use this method to fake their deaths." Kirito said, and I rubbed my chin.

"So they targeted Schmidt to see if he was a part of Griselda's death. In order to bring it out, they needed an illusionary avenger to scare him." I said, and thought a little. "That would make sense since the Holy Dragon Alliance pride themselves in rare items, but I would've heard if they got a ring like that."

"Belle, where is Yoruko-san?" Kirito asked, as I checked my friends list.

"She's at Cross Hill, Floor Nineteen." I said, looking to Kirito. "Should we go after them?"

"No, I think we should leave the rest to them. Our role in this is finished." Kirito said. Okay, I needed to get things moving before Yoruko and Kains really die but I have to at least discuss the whole marriage thing with Kirito soon.

"Anyway, we should go for tea. I'm thirsty." I said, getting up from my seat.

"Yeah. There shouldn't be anyone around the restaurant at this time." Kirito said, and we went together to the same place we went to earlier today and yesterday. I will admit, the place isn't that bad and I'm glad we didn't come when it was so busy. No one was staring at us and I felt a little more comfortable.

"You know, we ended up falling for Yoruko-san's plot but I don't really mind." Kirito said, his head rested on his hand.

"Yeah, same here. After all, they did it with some good intentions." I said, sipping my tea. "Say, Kirito, if you were in a guild and a rare item like that dropped. What would you have done?"

"Well, part of the reason I play solo is to avoid those situations." Kirito said, his arms-crossed.

"Honestly, the privacy we get in SAO is one of the few things I like." I said, as Kirito looked over to me. "When an item drops, it goes to the person it's dropped for and no one knows unless the person says something. Its good we have at least some privacy."

"I thought there was a way to share inventory." Kirito said, as I nodded.

"Yeah, when you get married you share inventory with your spouse." I said, and I felt a small smile on my face. "If relationships were like that in the real world, it would be easier on everyone who is in an honest relationship. Nothing is…." I stopped and I looked up at Kirito. "Kirito… are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"The ring…" Kirito said, as the waitress brought out more food for Kirito and dessert for me. "Belle, what happens to items when a spouse dies?"

"They go to the surviving spouse… so then that means Grimrock had the ring all along." I said, grimly as Kirito nodded.

"So Grimrock stole the ring from his own storage." Kirito said, and looked to me. "What do you think happened, Belle? You seem to be the creative one here."

"Well, lets see…" I had to think a little about this one since the anime does give some detail, but I love putting a spin on things. "I would assume that Schmidt was involved in Griselda's death in some way. Maybe lowering her defenses. Grimrock probably hired some orange players to kill his wife so that he could have the ring. After that, either Grimrock waited for everything to die down, or used Kains and Yoruko to cover his tracks…" I quickly stood up. "Kirito, we gotta go now!"

"Right." He said, getting up too. We packed out food, paid, and ran to the teleport to Floor Nineteen. Once we got there, Kirito and I went to the horse stables.

"I got Yoruko's location. I already sent it to you via messages." I said, as Kirito got onto his horse.

"Well, aren't you coming?" Kirito asked, as I nodded.

"I'll go half way though, I'll look for Grimrock." I said, getting behind him and we rode off together. For the most part, Kirito had a hard time controlling the horse and we had to stop at one point so that I could adjust the saddle a bit.

"I'm gonna go on from here. You're not to far away from the others." I said, as Kirito adjusted himself.

"Okay, but be careful. There may be some orange players nearby." Kirito warned, and I nodded.

"Hey, you know I'm careful. I'll see you there." I said, and rushed into the forest. Thankfully, I have some seeking skills and I found Grimrock within ten minutes and had him at sword point. "You're Grimrock, right?" I asked, the tip of my sword at his neck.

"Yes."

"Good, now come with me and no funny business." I said, and pushed him towards where Kirito, Yoruko, and the other two were. It kind of unnerved me to see Grimrock didn't even seem scared that I had a sword to his neck as we walked; he just acted like I was a fly. Finally, we came in sight of the others. "Kirito, I got him." I said, as we walked closer to the group.

"We can ask him the details." Kirito said, as we stopped in front of them.

"It's been a long time, everyone." Grimrock said, calmly. Like he didn't just send a bunch of murderers to kill these people.

"Grimrock-san… did you… did you really?" Yoruko asked, and Grimrock kept his stony face. "Why, Grimrock?! Why did you need the money from the ring so badly that you had to kill Griselda, your own wife?" Yoruko cried and Kains head her shoulders to try and comfort her.

"Money? Did you say money?" Grimrock asked, with a dark chuckle. "It wasn't for the money. I had… I had to kill her… while she was still my wife. She was my wife in the real world, too." Everyone gasped, except me. I was so angry, I wanted to stab him right through the neck. "She was the ideal wife, perfect, beautiful, so submissive. We'd never had a single fight. But when we were both trapped in this world, she changed. Only one of us was overcome with fear from being trapped in a death game. She looked so much happier, so much more alive than she had in the real world. I had to accept it, that the Yuuko I loved was gone. Thus, thus, I decided to forever seal her within my memories here, in this world, where murder is legal. And who could blame me?" I can, I can blame him fully and without guilt. I felt nothing short but pure anger inside me. Even Rosalia, who I hated and was rotting in prison, had better reasons to kill than this man. This man is either insane or just extremely stupid. I should make a stupid list when I get home, at least I can vent on that.

"You killed your wife for that?" Kirito asked, shocked.

"That's more than reason enough." Grimrock said, grinning with satisfaction. "Someday, you'll understand, detective. Once you've found love and are about to lose it."

"You're a dumbass, Grimrock." I said, coldly as I moved to stand in front of him. Before anyone could stop me, I punched him in the face I didn't care if my icon turned orange but I had to do that. "I've been doing background checks on a lot of people but your reason for murder is probably the most stupid I've ever heard! The memories you want with your wife are the ones where you had control over her! That's not love! That's just being possessive and a bastard!"

"B… Belle!" Kirito shouted, trying to stop me but I kept going on. I was on a roll so let me have my soapbox moment. Besides, this is kind of important to me.

"Memories of those you love that are gone have to be good and bad… because that makes the presence they had stronger. They made such and impact on your life that you never want to let any memory go." I said, and I could feel tears burning in my eyes. "But you, you only want to remember her as one thing; the perfect wife. The way you talk about her is like you've never loved her so you have no right to even talk about holding on tight to those you love!" At once, Grimrock sunk to his knees, looking defeated at my words. Kirito was about to check on him with Schmidt and Kains went to the fallen man.

"Kirito-san, Belle-san, could you leave this man to us?" Kains asked.

"Of course." Kirito said, and with that Kains and Schmid carried off Grimrock and Yoruko quickly bowed to us before leaving.

"Hey… Belle… what you said earlier…" Kirito said, and stared at me. "Hey, are you crying?"

"No I'm not." I said, wiping my eyes. I don't like crying in front of people, mostly because it's embarrassing since I'll just start outright sobbing.

"Yes you are." Kirito said, turning me to face him. "What you said earlier, who was the person you keep in your memories?" It took me a while before I could even say anything.

"My mom… she died when I was ten and she's very important to me. I know I'll never forget anything about her, at least I try not to. Both good and bad memories are important to me since I know she existed for so long." I said, and to my surprised, Kirito pulled me into a hug.

"If you need to cry, do it now… I won't let anyone see." Kirito whispered, and I just let it out. I haven't cried over my mom in years. Heck, the last time I did cry was the night my mom died and even then Dad had to hold me to try and calm me down. I realized how much I missed home thinking about all this now. I missed my dad, Jason, my best friends, school, and my mom. I wanted to go home so badly and take a break from fighting for my life. But I know that won't happen any time soon but I want to be home so badly. I just have to keep fighting. I cried like that for a few minutes, till I felt like I couldn't cry any more.

"Thanks… Kirito…" I said, getting a handkerchief and wiping my eyes. God, this is embarrassing.

"Its okay. If you need to cry, you should." Kirito said, scratching his nose looking a little embarrassed. Was he blushing? "Still, you were kind of cool when you said that stuff to Grimrock."

"You think so?" I asked, with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, you really had a lot of emotion into it." Kirito said, before staring at me.

"What? Do I have a runny nose?"

"No, I was just wondering how many times you've been married." Kirito said, and I quickly jabbed his side with my elbow. "Hey!"

"That was tactless, Kirito!" I shouted, all my sadness gone and replaced with annoyance. "You don't ask a girl that!"

"Sorry, still…" Kirito suddenly smiled a little. "I'm glad you're at least feeling a little better." Now it was my turn to stare at Kirito. I wonder, did he just say that to make me feel better…. Nah! He's kind of dense so it wouldn't matter. "Anyway, lets go eat and hit the hay. I'm beat and we still gotta beat the boss this week."

"Yeah, I'm sure Asuna is mad you left her to hang out with me again." Kirito laughed, as I huffed.

"Don't get too cocky, Kirito. I hang out with you because you're a friend." I said, and I was about to walk off when Kirito stopped me. "Hey, wha…" I stopped, noticing a woman standing by the tombstone of Griselda. She was beautiful, dressed in a brown cloak and green armor. Her hair was tied in a small pony-tail but I could see her emerald green eyes. She had a smile that clearly said one thing 'thank you'. "You're welcome, Griselda." I said, and bowed to her. When I looked up, her spirit was gone.

"Hey, did you just talk to…" Kirito gaped, and I nodded.

"Yep, I talked to a ghost. One more thing to cross off my bucket list." I said, grinning. "Anyway, breakfast is on me."

"Well, I thought you could make me…"

"Not a chance, mister." I said, as the two of us walked together to the town. Kirito may still be a Gary Stu and his protagonist powers can be annoying… but at least he's a good friend. Maybe I wouldn't mind just hanging out with him as a friend. After all, I think after this I may start calling Kirito my partner in crime.

* * *

Crystal: well, that's chapter 4.

Isabelle: Well, I do think that Grimrock is an idiot.

Anna: I agree.

Crystal: by the way, why are you here, Anna?

Anna: I'm waiting for you to update Hearts of Nothingness.

Crystal: I'm getting to that. Anyway, the next two chapters are going to not follow the anime or the light novels. Why? Because we need to see Belle and some things happening in the world. Also, I kind of need to fill in a certain plot device that was shown in episode 3... yeah, I think people know about that one. So anyway, join us next time in Chapter 5: Help From the Outside. See you soon!


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